



JO 



COFViyCHT DEPOSm 



European System 
d" Flax Culture Americanized 

and 

Adapted to'i^e Local Conditions ^U.S.A. 

(Especially Puget Sound) 



The American System 

d" Flax and Other 

Fiber Culture 



"Br 
DR. A. W. THORNTON 

(Formerly Special Agent of U. S. Department of Agriculture for 
Fiber Investigations, in State of Washington) 



Flax for seed and fiber has been an established industry in 
Europe for several centuries, while in each section where the in- 
dustry has been carried on, a different system has been prac- 
ticed. Each system, varying to a greater, or less degree, but all 
more or less satisfactory in their results. The Irishman, adopt- 
ing one system, being fully impressed with the idea, that his is 
the only correct one, and any departure therefrom is all wrong, 
and the result of gross ignorance. With due care, a good article 
is produced, and he fondly hugs himself with the delusive idea, 
that Irish flax is the best in the world. (?) 

I go across to Belgium, in the district of Courtrai, I find an 
entirely and radically different system in use, and a better and 
higher priced quality of flax fibre produced there, Mister Irish- 
man, to the contrary; — notwithstanding. My Belgian friend is 
just as fully convinced that the Irish system is all wrong. I leave 
Belgium and pass into Holland, and again find modifications in 
practice. Likewise, in Germany, Russia, Scandinavia and Austria, 
all practicing the peculiar system handed down from one gener- 
ation to another as best adapted to their local conditions. 

During recent years, however, the whole system of manipu- 
lating flax for fiber production is being modified to meet the re- 
quirements of modern manufacturers. Formerly the flax in- 
dustry in Europe was chiefly conducted by the small peasant far- 
-imer, who grew the flax, retted, spun and wove it into domestic 
fabrics, and great was the pride evinced by the farmer's wife 
and daughters in the beautiful and artistic damask and linen 
fabrics which they produced. Now, however, that is all changed, 
and large spinning mills with thousands of spindles have been 
established, while the costly modern machines have been pro- 
duced to cater to the increased requirements of the large spin- 
ners, they requiring large quantities of fibre, of uniform grades, 
while the small farmers could only produce small quantities of 
varying grades, the business passed into the hands of more ex- 
tensive cultivators. Not only so, but the son cannot now work 
to advantage on the plan practiced by the father owing to new^ 
developments by the advance of agricultural science, in the way 
of fertilizers. The tactile skill of the father has not passed to the 
son. While the lessons taught the son in the Agricultural Col- 
leges is an unknown language to the father. In the midst of this 
demoralization came the competition of the cheap cotton and 
shoddy goods and the peasant class with that want of foresight 
which characterises them as a class, were led to abandon the 
more durable, healthful and economical homespun products of the 
flax plant for the cheaper cotton. 

Another strong competitor arose in the culture of the sugar 
beet, which, being a cash money crop, and not requiring the same 
amount of care, attention and hard work, helped to wean the 
small farmer from flax culture. So great was the falling off of 
the flax culture in Austria that the Empress Theresa and Emperor 
Joseph 2nd, in order to stem the demoralizing tide and sustain 
this hand industry of the peasant established in Silicia, Bohemia, 
and Moravia, flourishing establishments which are carried on with 



-2 1917 4 



V^ ^ 



hand looms. Yet the competition of the English machines and hun- 
dreds of thousands of spindles, crippled the business and caused 
the hand looilis and spinning wheels to be consigned to the garret, 
entirely destroying the "Amour propre" of the peasant wife in 
her handy work, causing a disregard for home industry, and an 
all-absorbing hunt after cheapness above every other considera- 
tion. 

The peasant cannot now grow the quality of flax necessary 
to meet the requirements of the hiore perfect machines, which 
expose the minor defects unapparent under former conditions, so 
long as he continues to work in the old beaten track and there- 
fore cannot compete with modern demands. 

The Government assistance in Austria, to the encouragement 
of increased effort in flax culture, has not been exhausted by 
the work of Maria Theresa and Emperor Joseph 2nd, but in 
1892, the Government appropriated funds and sent specialists to 
the flax growing regions to report on the system adopted in those 
countries; a synopsis of the information thus collected has been 
published for the instruction of agriculturists and others inter- 
ested. Owing to the above conditions, the supply of the finer 
grades of flax fiber has greatly diminished, and the demand 
greatly exceeds the supply. 

As many of the details of European practice are not now 
adapted to existing conditions in the U. S., it becomes necessary 
to elaborate a distinctively American system of flax culture and 
treatment, more especially adapted to Puget Sound, Western 
Oregon and Western Washington. A region so highly favored 
by nature, that it is the only region in our broad United States, 
where the highest grades of flax fibre can be produced, such 
grades as can successfully compete with the celebrated Courtrai 
flax of Belgium, which can only be produced in a very restricted 
region in Europe. 

The necessity of modifying the system of flax manipulations 
adopted in Europe, became a question of flax or no flax on 
Puget Sound, if we would slavishly follow the old-time notions 
of European flax growers, the details of which are contrary to 
the spirit of the age and American progressiveness. Where would 
we procure American women to go into the flax field on their 
hands and knees, and weed flax with draggled skirts day after 
day or, American men with two or three pair of woolen stock- 
ings on their feet go and pick weeds? THEY SIMPLY WOULD 
NOT DO IT AND THERE WOULD BE THE END OF FLAX 
CULTURE ON PUGET SOUND. Whereas, by a distinctively 
American system, (Americanizing the European practice), cut- 
ting off useless corners and crossing lots we get there all the 
same. 

Using labor-saving machinery and having our land clean of 
weeds BEFORE SOWING the flax seed, as herein set forth, we 
can establish a profitable and far-reaching industry that will not 
only prevent our sending millions of dollars to Europe, but ow- 
ing to our climatic conditions and special adaptability for produc- 
ing the highest grades of fine flax, will enable us to compete with 



the European growers in their own market, and draw more mil- 
lions of dollars from thence. 

I am well aware interested parties will cavil nnd fling in- 
vective because I fail to worship their great Goddess Dianah, as 
it would occupy more time than I can afford, I will not here en- 
ter into a controversy, I will only say that from a long and varied 
experience on the Pacific Coast and special experience in flax 
culture in the field, I am better qualified to appreciate the varied 
questions that complicate this subject. 

It was only when I brought my inconoclastic energies into 
play; not to Europeanize the American, but to Americanize the 
European practice, and establish a distinctively American system 
of flax culture and treatment and have formulated a practice 
adapted to the spirit of our people and the requirements of our 
region. 

While we are all aware of this unholy and inexcusable war 
now devastating Europe, the question, "When the war is over, 
what then?" I noticed in one of our daily papers recently, "Amer- 
ica, the World's Monte Christo," and my imagination, like that 
of Marconi, when he realized that unsurpassible vision of wire- 
less telegraphy, gazed enraptured at the Utopian vision of the 
land where "the little roast pigs, with knife and Tork sticking 
in their backs, ran about crying, "Come cut me up and eat me, 
come, cut me up and eat me!" While the war maddened flax 
growing nations of Europe were calling with canons roar, "Oh, 
America, come gobble up our cherished flax industry. Come 
quickly." ( !) 

The flax industry at this time on Puget Sound presents an 
ideal field for investment of capital, for several self-evident rea- 
sons: 

First — This writer has already demonstrated as a fact that 
the soil and climatic conditions are adapted for the production 
of the highest grades of flax products, and during the time he was 
engaged as special agent, conducting important flax fiber in- 
vestigations regarding the suitability of flax culture in the State 
of Washington, he had over sixty farmers cultivating flax under 
his direction on every quality of land in that state, with only two 
failures, one on rsw turf and the other on very poor sandy land. 
All the others furnishing samples ranging from good to extra 
good. It may be of interest to mention that during the six years 
he was engaged in this investigation he thoroughly familiarized 
himself with all the details of manipulation with his own hands. 

Second.— THE PROMPT AND PROFITABLE RETURNS UP- 
ON THE INVESTMENT.— Organizing a stock company at this 
time to exploit the industry would require first, a suitable site 
after contracts to be made with local farmers to cultivate and 
deliver flax straw, with the seed on, to the mill at a fixed price, 
would be in order, and the ordering of the seed from Europe for 
the first year's crop would be necessary. The second and subse- 
quent we could grow our own PEDIGREE seed, which is even 
superior to European, this would be affected during the month 

6 



of December, in the first year, afterwards the contracts would be 
made in July and August, in subsequent years. This seed should 
arrive from Europe during February, in time to be segregated 
and delivered to the farmers to be sown under their contracts from 
the middle of March to the middle of April, according to the 
weather conditions. 

The flax would be ready for pulling in July and dried and 
delivered to the mill in August. In the meantime the necessary 
buildings, machinery and manufacturing plant would be got in 
readiness. Work of retting and scutching would start up in the 
middle of August and by THE MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER, 15 TO 
20 TONS OF FLAX FIBER, WORTH FROM $5,000 to $10,000 
WOULD BE READY FOR SHIPMENT TO EUROPE, TO BE 
FOLLOWED EVERY MONTH BY SIMILAR SHIPMENTS 
OF FIBER, until the following August, when the season's supply 
of straw would be worked up and the sheds empty and ready to 
receive the next season's crop. 

Cash returns could be received here from Belfast or other 
European markets in sixty days or less after each shipment. 

Note here under this arrangement three-fourths of the 
material on hand in August would be worked up and sold and 
shipped before the assessor's visit in March. 

Third— A READY MARKET.— The disastrous condition of 
the flax industry, owing to the European war, the market for the 
high grade fiber producible on Puget Sound, is open to gobble 
all the flax we can produce. 

In this treatise I have aimed to adopt what seemed to me 
the best points in each system and combined theui into one har- 
monious whole, which, if followed closely, will not fail to enable 
the prospective flax grower to produce good results. There are 
three classes, however, that this book is specially intended for, 
and to whom I trust it will prove instructive and interesting. 
First, the prospective flax grower, entirely ignorant of the sub- 
ject, but is willing to follow the instructions here given. He need 
have no fear of failure, but be fully assured of success. Second, 
the man who has some knowledge of the subject, but has forgot- 
ten many details of the work and approaches the subject in a 
teachable spirit. These instructions will prove of benefit. Third, 
the flax grower who thinks he knows it all, a man at the very 
best, very hard to deal with, however, by keeping a tight rein on, 
to keep him from kicking over the traces, if growing flax under 
contract, may be made to benefit thereby. There is one other 
class into whose hands this book may come. The man who not 
only thinks he knows it all, but goes a step farther and thinks 
he knows just a little more than it all. For him I have no use. 
He can gang his own gate ! 

The subject of co-operative flax culture is one of much in- 
terest and calls for some marks in this place. By co-operation I 
mean the farmer not only growing the flax for the scutcher, but 
also turning in his straw on joint account to be worked up by the 
scutcher in a manner somewhat similar to our furnishing milk 



to the creamery. In Europe this plan is greatly approved but 
it must be remembered that in European flax regions the flax 
growers are well acquainted with all the details of llie subject, it 
being an old established industry. While in the U. S. it is an 
infant industry and at first might become a source of a general 
kick. 

Sound policy in this country, I think, suggests the practice. 
Let the grower grow the flax, let the scutcher scutch it, let the 
spinner spin it and the weaver weave it. Let the oil mill ex- 
tract the oil and the lace maker make her dainty hand-spun lace. 
They are all distinct industries and should be operated independ- 
ently. After the establishment of the flax industry on a sound 
basis and permanency has become an established fact, and the 
farmers educated up to it. Then it may be advantageous 
for a number of farmers to combine and erect a community 
scutch mill to work up their own flax and ship it to the open 
market upon joint account and divide the profits. 

While there are hundreds of varieties of flax known to botan- 
ists, there is at this time only one in general use for fiber produc- 
tion, that is namely, SUMMER P^LAX, LINUM USITATISSIMUM, 
of which, however, there are several sub-varieties, such as Riga, 
Dutch, Royal, White Flowered American. Among the different spe- 
cies of flax maybe mentioned PERENNIAL, (Linum Perenne), still 
cultivated in the southern part of Europe with large blue flowers, 
but after many experiments it has failed to hold its place in 
competition with the summer flax as a fiber producer and its use 
has been abandoned. WINTER FLAX has also been largely 
tested and its use finally abandoned, as it had too great a 
tendency to branching and uncertainty in its growth. It was 
usually sown in August and matured in early summer. SUMMER 
FLAX^ (LINUM CREPETANS), this plant does not grow as tall 
as the ordinary Summer flax, (LINUM USITATISSIMUM), nor 
does it yield as much fiber. It has the bad habit of exploding the 
seed capsules suddenly when ripe and scattering its seed, and 
though producing more blossoms and seed, this is nullified by 
the great waste and loss of seed by its explosive habit. 

SUMMER FLAX, (LINUM USITATISSIMUM), so called be- 
cause of its extensive usefulness, is the species now altogether in 
use for fiber, production, and has been endorsed by the Interna- 
tional Flax Growers' Association in Vienna, in the following 
terms : 

As learned from numerous experiments, we recommend cul- 
ture of the blue flowering flax, (Linum Usitatissimum Vulgare), 
as the best. Of this species are several sub-species or varieties, 
which have become modified by the climate and soil on which 
they have been cultivated, such as Riga, Dutch, etc., and are 
adapted to different locations for planting. It must be remem- 
bered that many of the vast number of varieties of the bast fibers 
have a remarkable tendency to respond to varying local condi- 
tions, and one cannot predict before hand what vagaries the flax 
crop in different localities and under different management may 

8 



assume. The strawberry plant is a remarkable example of this 
peculiarity of this instability of individualism, owing to the source 
of supply. For instance, the Riga seed seems to take longer to 
ripen than the Dutch. While the Riga seed is Detter adapted 
for light or medium soils, and the Dutch to heavy soils, the 
Dutch also produces a finer fiber than the Riga. There is also 
a variety called "White Flowering Flax," which grows very tall 
with a white blossom; growing tall and fine in the straw, pro- 
ducing a large yield of good fiber and easily retted, and does 
well on Puget Sound, but the seed deteriorates rapidly and re- 
quires to be pedigreed by thick sowing and allowed to fully ripen. 
There is also a variety called "Royal Flax Seed," which grows 
very fine and tall on Puget Sound. Athough it does not do 
so well in Europe. It is well to bear in mind the peculiar vari- 
ties of the different varieties of flax seed, that it is a matter of 
the greatest importance, that the seed that is the best adapted to 
local conditions should be used. Doubtless there is still room for 
much experiment and many considerable divergencies will be 
found from European experience and high rewards, and much 
fascinating enjoyment and pleasure from such horticultural in- 
vestigations will be experienced. 

Before entering into details, there are some fundamental prin- 
ciples that are at the base of the flax industry which should be 
thoroughly comprehended and constantly borne in mind and gov- 
ern flax grower at all times in modifying any of these in- 
structions as the intelligent farmer may require to meet his in- 
dividual requirements. 

FUN DA MEN TA L PRINCIPLES 

WEEDS ARE DEATH TO FLAX.— I repeat, weeds are death 
to flax, and once more 1 say, "WEEDS ARE DEATH TO FLAX." 
It is worse than useless to attempt to grow flax for fiber on 
weedy ground on Puget Sound or anywhere else. Care and neat- 
ness are necessary in tillage, harvesting and all subsequent pro- 
cesses. Careless culture will leave foul and cloddy ground upon 
which you cannot produce first quality flax. Careless tying of 
bundles will lower the price of the straw at the mill from $1.00 
to $3.00 per ton, even though the quality of the flax is above the 
average in other respects. Why? The accompanying cuts will 
explain. In one case the mill will receive the bundle with satis- 
faction, in the other with the individual sftraws all tied up 
"higgldy-piggldy" up and down the bundle, the mill will require 
it to be opened and retied before it can be put into the brakes, 
and where the roots are all evenly placed they are all broken off 
at the first stroke, while in the other case it requires the bundle 
to be untied and retied at an extra expenditure of time, labor and 
cash, and the grower docked accordingly. Third.^ — Good seed 
and even sowing on a well prepared seed bed is absolutely in- 
dispensable for the reason that if the crop is patchy or uneven, 
from poor sowing and bad seed or cloddy seed bed, some of the 
flax grows thin and coarse in straw, while other portions grow 
thick in straw. As the finer straw takes a longer time 



to ret than the coarse straw, only an uneven product is obtained. 
To modify this defect, it is necessary, either to make two or 
more sowing or pullings in separate lots at a greater expenditure 
of time, labor (and consequently of cost) and then dock the 
grower in price to recoup the extra cost. Fourth. — Do not plant 
more flax than you can safely handle at pulling time and have 
all necessary preparations made to harvest the crop. 

Do not sow more seed than you can handle with safety at 
pulling time and have all necessary preparations made to har- 
vest the crop just at the right time, otherwise you will have 
a crop of flax on hand WHICH MUST BE PULLED OR CUT, 
JUST AT THE RIGHT TIME OR BE SPOILED, and spoiled it 
will be as it soon deteriorates and very rapidly becomes over- 
ripe, to your very great pecuniary loss. 

Fifth, — Be very careful in selection of seed for fiber produc- 



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Fiber Flax 



Oil Flax 



10 



Hon, as only the best of pedigree seeds (that is seed sown thickly 
and fully ripened in order to intensify the non-branching habit). 

I here come to one of my fundamental principles which may 
be subject to controversy. The question at issue is simply in 
harvesting flax, pull the straw, or cut it with a harvester ma- 
chine. This question first came up to me in my inexperienced 
days, and as is often the case, the less experts really know the 
more positive they were in asserting unsound opinions. One 
gentleman who had charge of a large flax mill in Minnesota, 
wrote to me that FLAX COULD NOT BE CUT WITH 
SAFETY, BUT MUST BE PULLED, and to add force to his 
opinion he said when flax was cut square off the ends would not 
enter easily into the machines. IF HE HAD BEEN CONTENT 
to drop the subject there, I might have been outwitted, but he 
graphicallv went on to say THAT IN RETTING THE WATER 
WOULD SOAK INSIDE of the hollow straw and cause an un- 
even ret.( !) 

THE FACT BEING, THAT FLAX STRAW IS SOLID, AND 
NOT HOLLOW LIKE AN OATEN OR WHEATEN STRAW, 
and I allowed him to step down and out of the investigation 
as an unreliable witness. I therefore submitted the question to 
Mr. F. Barbour. He replied that so far from being injurious 
to cut the flax straw, he said it was a common practice, both 
in Ireland and in Belgium to cut the long flax straw into three 
lenghths with a tool something like a circular saw, which they 
called "bottoms," "middles" and "tops," and use the "middles" 
for the finest work. With our improved harvesters and with 
our flax fields nicely leveled, and by having the knives kept 
very sharp we can cut our flax within one or two inches of the 
ground and practically no loss, but really at a saving of $3.00 
or $4.00 per acre and upwards. 

By careful attention to those fundamental principles, suc- 
cess in flax culture may be assured to the most inexperienced 
grower. It may be well in this place to give an epitome of the 
report of Messrs. Langer, Stanka and Lamach, who were sent 
in 1892 by the Austrian Government, to visit the several flax 
growing countries of Europe, and report on the present condi- 
tion of flax culture and manufacture, from which may be learned 
the great difference of systems practiced in each. I do this 
the more readily because the report is hardly within reach of 
the American flax growers. 

GERMANY (SAXONY.) 

"It is a known fact that 1,000 years ago the flax industry 
was one of the most important and profitable in that country, 
but has since steadily decreased and passed from the hands 
of the peasant farmer to the hands of the large land holder. 
The competition of cotton and jute being responsible for this 
decline. In 1883 an appropriation by the state of Saxony: First 
—for establishing technical schools for flax culture. Second — to 

11 



supply a set of all the technical implements used in the Belgium 
method of flax culture. Third — to establish experimental farms 
suitable for flax culture. This appropriation lasted for seven 
years, when it passed into other hands of private parties. The 
government adopted the system of hot water retting as practiced 
by Watt, Schenk and the Americans. 

SCUTCHING MILL IN MARIENBERG. 

This mill is in the possession of H. C. MuUer in Herschfeld, 
and may be called a model establishment. It is a one-story 
building with warehouse built on to it, also a retting house and 
scutch mill joined together with covered way passage. Behind 
the building is a large bleaching and drying green with wagon 
tracks to the retting warehouse, in retting house 12 cement 
tanks 3.6 metres, 4.5 metres long (177 inches), 1 1-4 
metres deep, (49 inches), and have at the depth of 1 
metre (36 inches) a perforated false bottom. The flax 
straw is tied in loose bundles of 21 inches, covered 
with straw at a temperature of 30 degrees Celcius. Each 
tank holds 5 metacentners of flax straws hauled to dry- 
ing ground and opened and spread to dry and set up as shooks 
to dry according to the weather. The water from the tanks 
running irrigation ditches, runs into Carp ponds, as it is found 
to be absolutely uninjurious to fish. The working of the flax 
is done in the scutching house room where steam from the boilers 
is conducted to warm and dry the flax before going to the ma- 
chine where it is put through the breaker. This breaker is 
made of 20 fluted rollers set in pairs, the first or those nearest 
the feed end are coarse and are gradually finer as the flax straw 
is drawn through. The flax is fed by putting the butts' or root 
end of the straw to the rollers, which carries it through the 
series. The machine requires two attendants (one to feed and 
the other to carry off the broken straw). Twelve horsepower 
is required for the whole establishment. The scutchirjg machine 
consists of 20 stocks, in sets of 10, each turning towards the 
other. These consist of cast iron wheels on which are fastened 
8 knives of elm wood, projecting 2 or 3 inches beyond the peri- 
phery of the wheel. The broken flax is held through a slot in 
the scutching board and beaten by the knives on the scutching 
wheel which is made to revolve 170 to 180 times a minute. It 
requires practice in the operatives to do this work quickly and 
without any considerable loss of fiber. An ordinary days work 
of 11 hours for two men is 35 Kilos, (77 pounds), at 1 mark 
and ^Q pfennings per day (25 cents). It is considered it costs 15 
marks for preparing 50 kilos (110 pounds) of scutched flax. 
This establishment is not a profitable one. Owing to local con- 
ditions the hot water being found to produce an inferior grade 
of fiber, unsuited to the spinners requirements, and the hot water 
has been abandoned. 



12 



AT CHEMNITZ. 

At Chemnitz they attempted to organize a co-operative union 
for tlax culture. With the following rules: First — an interval 
of seven years between each crop of tlax must intervene. Second 
— the previous crop must be fertilized with rye, wheat, oats, or 
one-year-old clover sod. Third — the flax field must be thoroughly 
drained and as free from weeds as possible. Fourth — the flax 
field must be plowed, sub-soiled and the surface leveled in the 
previous fall. F'ifth — fresh manure and night soil is not per- 
mitted to be used, but a full dressing of 1000 kilos of kainit 
(2204 pounds) and 5.0 kilos (110 pounds) per hectare, (247 
acres) of ground bone. Sixth — the seed to be sown as early in the 
spring as possible after the ground is made as smooth as pos- 
sible by rolling and lightly harrowed. Seventh — 4 1-2 centner 
of Russian, or 3 1-2 of rose flax seed. Eighth — it is absolutely 
necessary to remove weeds at the right time. The field must be 
weeded when the flax is six to eight centimeters high (2 or 3 
inches). Ninth — the pulling of the straw is when it is more 
yellow than green and the greater part of the seed slightly brown. 
I give the foregoing account of work at Chemnitz as a sample 
of HOW NOT TO DO IT. (!) 

PRUSSIAN SILESIA. 

In Silesia, formerly the flax was more largely grown than 
in Saxony, while now it has gone greatly backward, being grown 
on a small scale in the uplands for domestic purposes, while 
the bottom lands have recently been more used for beets and 
rape. When grown for the market it is sold in the straw, or 
at best only retted, but not scutched. This falling off in produc- 
tion is owing to the competition of Russian flax, which, being of 
cheaper quality, is cheaper. In Popelau, the Prussian Govern- 
ment has established an experimental station for nine years past, 
illustrating the Belgian method of culture and management, and 
also small fields are established in the neighborhood as object 
lessons for the flax farmers and experts are sent to teach the 
farmers in the field the most improved system of work, while 
bulletins are published from time to time on the subject. The 
Prussian Government, in order to encourage the flax industry, 
use linen clothing for their army while other governments use 
the cheaper cotton fabrics. Professor R. Baur has been granted 
by the Prussian Government 16,000 marks to enable him to con- 
duct experiments in new processes of flax treatment. Dr. Baur's 
invention was expected to produce a grade of flax to compete 
with that of Courtrai, but has failed to do so and is only adapted 
to the coarser fabrics and to hemp, nettles, chinqa and grasses, 
but the process is kept a secret. Enough is known, however, 
that Silesia cannot compete with fielgium in producing fine 
flax. Dr. Baur's improved method is a hot water, combined with 
acid and alkalies, is like all hot water and chemical systems 
while turning out a fiber of good color, they are all ill adapted 
to either w^t or dry spinning. 

13 



BELGIUM. 

From Antiquity east and especially west Flanders has been 
the home of flax culture of the finest grades where about 60,000 
hectares (150,000 acres) are cultivated annually which repre- 
sents 400,000 centners of fiber, worth 60,000,000 francs, giving 
employment to one-fifth of the population; three-fifths of the 
Belgian flax is exported, especially the higher grades. The Bel- 
gium spinneries spin only up to number 100 and 150. The 
Courtrai flaxes sell for 200 to 400 francs per kilo (18 to 36 cents 
per pound) and is chiefly used in the manufacture of the finest 
spinning in Ireland. The cause of the superiority of the quality 
of Belgian flax depends not only on the superiority of the soil 
but on all the conditions being especially favorable, as well as the 
great care exercised by the operators, while the limited area 
of product stimulates the prices and gives the producer a prac- 
tical monopoly. 

Cultivation. — The first principle in Belgian flax culture is 
rotation, spreading over seven or eight years, while subject to 
much variety the following may be given as a sample. Near 
Courtrai the following is a common rotation: 

Rotation of Crops (8 Years) 

1. Flax, with clover sod subsoiled. 

2. Clover. 

3. Rye, with night soil, 

4. Wheat. 

5. Rape. 

6. Potatoes, with night soil. 

7. Oats. 

8. Chicory, with night soil. 

In West Flanders. 

1. Flax, with night soil. 

2. Rye, with night soil. 

3. Oats and clover. 

4. Clover. 

5. Wheat, with night soil. 

6. Rye. 

7. Potatoes. 

8. Wheat, rye and barley. 

Often beets are sown and recently beets have taken the place 
of flax in some parts of Belgium, which are always given good 
stable manure. ( In the fall the fields are plowed, 25 to 30 cente- 
metres (8 to 10 inches) deep, and the fields covered with night 
soil from the city. Large dressings of chemical fertilizers are 
used on sandy soil. The seed is sown in March and lightly har- 
rowed and rolled, then weeded twice, pulling carefully at the 
end of June and beginning of July and is stacked up, allowing 
the seed to ripen and dry in the bolls after pulling, the fiber is 
not only preserved by drying but greatly improved. After a 

14 



week the flax is put into larger stacks to be rippled after harvest. 
After being rippled it is put in large stacks, carefully thatched 
and kept till the summer or fall of the next year, which greatly 
improves the fiber and renders the retting more uniform. The 
crop is usually 4,000 kilos to the hectare (8,816 pounds to IV^ 
acres). The crop of seed is variable, according to the season. 
A good season will yield 4,000 to 5,000 kilos (8,000 to 10,000 
pounds). ♦ 

Retting. 

Rettings, after the harvest, the work of the farmers is ended, 
as one or more contractors do the retting and the scutcher does 
his work, each keeping strictly to his own branch of the work, 
and thus becoming extremely expert and skilled in working flax 
to its finest grades, making a division of labor. Nowhere in 
Belgium is artificial retting used. The best flax comes from 
the name of Courtrai, as Lys retted flax, the retting is done in 
crates which are floated out in the river Lys and submerged. 
These crates are four metres long (about 12 feet long)) 4 metres 
broad and 4 metres deep and hold the flax in bundles of 3 to 4 
kilos (6 to 8 pounds), which is set upright. Double retting is now 
used all over Flanders, being so much better. The cost of double 
retting the straw is 34 to 36 francs per 1,000 kilos of straw, ($20 
per long ton). 

Slime Retting in East Flanders. 

While the conditions for producing flax in this region are 
similar to the West Flanders and Courtrai regions, they have 
no river available for retting like the Lys and are to a great ex- 
tent, dependent on slime retting, which consists of putting the 
straw in pits from which the ooze or slime has been removed, 
before the flax is put in. The best time for this is March or April. It 
consists in tying in small bundles and placing it on top of the 
water in a ditch where it sinks about half and is turned every 
day and left in the water one week and then taken out to dry in 
stocks and again given a second retting, this system occupying 
altogether from one to two months, and is used only under 
compulsion, but is somewhat better than dew retting, which sys- 
tem is only practiced where there are no water facilities. 

Scutching. 

These scutch mills are usually of brick and have from 20 to 
25 stocks placed in two rows. The brake contains 8 to 12 
wheels. The cost of such a mill is about 1,000 francs. The 
waste from the brake is usually put through cylindrical shaking 
machines which frees the chive from «the tow and which is 
pressed into bales of one cubic foot and sold as breaking tow, 
what comes from the uncleaned, sells for 20 to 25 centimes per 
100 kilos, while cleaned for 200 francs per 100 kilos, while the 
scutched is sold for Courtrai flax at 200 to 400 dollars per long 
ton (equal to 19 to 36 cents per pound). 



15 



HOLLAND. 

In Holland, except Friesland, not much flax is produced, 
owing to the land being of too heavy a quality to grow good 
flax. The slime retting is generally used but sometimes salt 
water is used which gives a very light colored flax, but small 
in yield and poor in quality. Friesland, where the land is light 
and the water soft they ret in pools. The flax is bound in 
bundles of 2 to 3 kilos and put in butt end down in the water 
and only immersed one-half, and after two or three days is 
turned several times a day. The whole straw is pushed under 
the water with boards and after being a week in the water it is 
taken out and after draining it is -put in round stocks. This 
retting takes place in August and September. It must be re- 
membered that only a small portion of it is retted in Holland, 
as the most of it is removed by the brokers to Courtrai and retted 
in the river Lys, and some to East Flanders and retted by the 
river process. The flax that is known in the market as Holland 
flax is dark colored, fine and lustrous, but is not thought so much 
of as the Courtrai. 

IRELAND. 

Ireland is the leading country for flax spinning, as there the 
finest grades of spinning is produced, and always lead in England 
and Europe. Ireland has imported in 1896, 19,697 tons of fiber; 
in 1891, 25,389 tons. This was chiefly Russian flax. The cut- 
ting up of large tracts of land into small farms has caused the 
discontinuance of flax culture in several districts. Also poor cul- 
tivation and disregard of the requirements of the flax plant has 
rendered the land flax sick. (Whisky, ignorance and careless- 
ness renders the Irish farmer unfitted for flax culture. (The 
culture of the land is superficial and poorly conducted. Best 
farmers adopt a rotation of 7 to 12 years. Riga seed is used for 
light soil and Dutch seed for heavy land. They put the flax green 
and without rippling into the water. They pull the flax when 
green and ret immediately in ponds or ditches. (The Irish think 
more of the sperading of the flax after retting than retting itself.) 
The brewer has four pair of fluted rollers. Scutching arms are 
made of beechwood. The Irish scutcher is not so careful as the 
Belgian and does not scutch his flax clean. It is packed in bales 
of one stone (14 pounds). The yield of straw varies, the average 
being about two tons per acre, and the fiber of the best quality 
is 9 shillings per stone (14 pounds). 

I have given the epitome of Professor Ludwig, Langreers' 
report because it is not available to the American reader and con- 
tains much valuable and interesting information and will now 
return to my subject proper. The formulation of my distinctively 
American system of flax and hemp culture and treatment. As I 
have given so much space to Germany, Belgium, Holland, Aus- 
tria and Ireland, I must not overlook France, where much im- 
portant work has been accomplished in the interest of fiber 
culture. 

16 



FRANCE FLAX BOUNTY LAWS. 

By the law of January 13, 1892, to remain in force for six 
years, bounties for flax and hemp culture, according to the 
quantity grown of acres, will be granted for an amount not ex- 
ceeding 500,000 francs. By a decree of April 13, 1892, boun- 
ties are granted only if the area entitled is at least 25 acres. 
By a decree of March 28, 1893, the number of acres to be tilled 
is reduced to 10. 

The following bounties have been granted: In 1892, 132 
francs per hectare (or say $8.36 per acre). In 1893, 88 francs (or 
say $5.75 per acre). In 1894, 72 francs per hectare ($75 per 
acre). In 1895, 8 francs (equal to $4.50 per acre). These 
bounties of the French Government are said- to have greatly 
stimulated the flax culture in that country, 

RUSSIA. 

While more than two-thirds of all the flax produced in Eu- 
rope is grown in Russia, yet the quality of the flax produced in 
that country is of a very low grade. There are in Russia two 
qualities of land used for the production of flax. One called the 
black land, where the flax is grown for seed, and the other 
called the red lands, where the flax is grown for fiber. 

CANADA. 

In Canada, also, large quantities of flax is grown. This is 
also of poor quality and low in price, being mostly dew retted. 
In the province of Ontario, one firm, Messrs. Livingstone Bros.' 
operate twelve scutch mills, and they are called the flax kings 
of Canada. Their flax having an average market value of 9 
cents per pound in New York, the grower thus obtaining only 
about one and one-half ton of dry straw with the seed on per 
acre, and the straw yields eight per cent of fiber, while on Puget 
Sound I have obtained from 2V2 to 4 tons of dry straw without 
the seed per acre, and the dry straw yielded 14 to 36 per cent of 
fiber of high quality. 

THE LAND. 

On Puget Sound and by parity of reasoning, my remarks 
will apply in a great measure to Western Washington and West- 
ern Oregon. I have found good crops of flax were produced on 
every quality of land with the exception of freshly broken peat 
and very dry sandy land, and even on that, with early sowing 
and irrigation, would have given satisfactory results. The good 
fruit and bench lands and alder uplands will probably produce 
the finest grade of fiber and our celebrated hop land will secure 
the heaviest crops of both flax and hemp. I have produced 4 
tons of dry flax straw without seed on such land and the limit 
has by no means been reached, and I believe much larger crops 
could be profluced on such land. Sandy loam, sandy clay loams, 
and strong clay loams are all well adapted to flax in this region. 

17 



While heavy clay, unless worked into the condition of a garden 
patch or onion bed (pretty difficult thing to accomplish) had 
better be avoided. 

PREVIOUS CROP. 

Having decided upon the quality of the land to be sown with 
flax it is of importance to consider its condition and previous 
crop. The most important factor at this point is to secure a 
clean seed-bed, as it is contrary to American ideas to spend time 
and labor in hand-weeding flax. We must secure clean land 
before we sow the flax. This requirement will be fairly met by 
sowing on a two-year-old clover sod that has been plowed deeply 
(10 to 12 inches) the previous fall and left to fallow all winter, 
then plowed shallow (2 to 3 inches) early as the weather con- 
ditions will permit, and run a light harrow two or three times 
over the surface before sowing. The object of this treatment is 
two-fold. First, to compel all weed seeds already in the soil to 
germinate and kill them by the consequent exposure to the 
weather and at the same time reducing the surface soil to a fine 
tilth. Deep rooting hoed crops, such as potatoes or carrots are 
good weed exterminators if kept all through the growing season 
constantly hoed AND CLEAR OF WEEDS. This system of cul- 
ture is known as the intensive culture and dust mulch. 

ROTATION OF CROPS. 

As it used to be unprofitable to sow flav for two successive 
seasons on the same land without intervention of other crops, 
the European flax planters varying the interval from 5 to 12 
years. It has been found advisalDle to introduce this system into 
my distinctively American system, varying indeed details in dif- 
ferent localities, according to circumstances. Many farmers di- 
vide their available arable land into permanent fields of about 
one-tenth of whole area. Aim to have that quantity under flax 
each year, but always with the full interval between each crop 
of flax. If a farm of 40 acres be divided into five fields of 8 acres 
each, we will have the basis of a 5 year ROTATION. 

ANOTHER FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE. 

As this phase of the subject is open to a confusing multi- 
tude of changes, I will confine myself to principles and what 
they call for. In another place I called attention to the law, 
WEEDS ARE DEATH ON FLAX. I am here met with the ques- 
tion : How do you eliminate the weeds by a simple and efficacious 
conformity with the fundamental requirements of the plan. 

FLAX FOR OIL. 

Flax for oil is produced by sowing the seed thinly (1 to 2 
pecks per acre). This thin seeding has a tendency to induce 
a low stocky growth at the expense of the quality of the fiber 
for the production of which this oil producing seed can not be 
used without loss. 

18 



FIBER FLAX. 

Fiber flax on the other hand required the land to be sown 
with the highest grade of pedigree seed in quantities of 2^/2 
bushels. This has the effect of a thick crowded crop being pro- 
duced with no side branches and long, soft, strong fiber. This 
fiber flax is a dainty feeder, not like beet, corn or turnups and 
haying only a delicate tap root that penetrates deeply and re- 
quires the nutriment it does absorb to be of the most assimilable 
qualities and the soil requires to be in the most permeable tilth 
for the tender root system to penetrate. 

HEMP. 

As this book was intended to elaborate my distinctly Ameri- 
canized European system of fiber culture, hemp from its great 
value and high adaptability to our Puget Sound region, is entitled 
to a prominent place here. As fundamental principles, have a 
most important bearing on many of the phases of the fiber ques- 
tion, and right here we are met wath some very interesting ones 
that require elaboration in this place. 

There are several classes of commercial fibers, as the best 
fibers, such as Manilla, Agave, Aloe, etc., are produced in the 
thick, fleshy part of the leaves, and though possessing large in- 
dustrial utility, are coarse in fiber and low in price, but not 
adapted to the requirements of Bast fibers. Among the Bast 
fibers we have first flax (M'hich, owing to its superlative economi- 
cal quality, the botanists named it Linum Usitatissimum). 

Hemp is also of great economic importance. Then we have 
a number of less well known Bast fibers that yield strong, silky, 
beautiful fibers, but not yet admitted in general merchantable 
use. They are found among Mallows, Okra, Milkweed, the Net- 
tles, Burdock, etc. In this place, however, returning to hemp 
which possesses some fundamental features that call for con- 
sideration, in contrast to flax. Flax, being a monaceous plant, 
that is one having the both male and female flowers on one 
plant. While the hemp has the male and the female flowers on 
different plants and is therefore called Diaceous, and here looms 
up another fundamental principle in which the flax matures 
whole plant at the same time when sowed broadcast. The hemp, 
on the contrary, grows its male plants about two or three times 
as high as the female plants and as soon as it sheds its polen 
to fertilize the female plants it attains the highest state for pro- 
ducing the best fiber, while the female plant, continuing to ma- 
ture its seed for three weeks or a month longer before it at- 
tains the stage of maturity to produce the highest quality of fiber, 
Consequently, when hemp is sown broadcast (as it is in Ken- 
tucky and other parts of the United States) and we cannot segre- 
gate the male from the female plants, they both grow together, 
the male plants being over-ripe and the female plants not suffi- 
ciently mature, both being materially depreciated in price and 
quality for want of uniformity. 

My cure for this evil is simple and efficacious and its adop- 
tion will greatly enhance the pecuniary value of the finished 
product. 

19 



DR. A. W. THORTON'S SYSTEM OP^ HEMP CULTURE 
(IMPROVED) 

In September or October plow 8 or 10 inches (if pos- 
sible) with a jointer turning 3 inches of the surface growth to 
the bottom of the furrow and turning the balance of the furrow 
slice on top and you may leave the surface in that condition to 
mellow by the snow, frost and rain. If the season proves an 
open one it will increase the mellowing efifect, to cultivate the 
surface not more than three inches. But this fall cultivation 
should not be attempted unless the soil is in good condition. As 
early in the spring as the condition of soil is suitable, plow only 
three inches deep, two or three times at intervals of a week, 
as this culture is for the purpose of starting the dormant weed 
seeds in the soil and exposing their tender root to wind an 
sunshine, you will have a mellow, clean seed-bed, and about the 
middle of April (if conditions are favorable) sow broadcast about 
90 pounds of fresh, plump hemp seed with a light harrow about 
one or two inches deep. The hemp being a vigorous, umbrageous 
plant under such treatment, will smother all weeds. 

There are usually only two systems of sowing hemp in the 
United States — drills and broadcast. Drilling has the disadvan- 
tage of allowing so much room to the root that the plants have a 
tendency to grow coarse and branchy to the great deterioration 
of the quality and price of the fiber. My system avoids that 
difficulty, but owing to the impossibilitj'^ of segregating the male 
from the female seed, both are allowed to grow together to the 
utter destruction of uniformity in the quality of the fiber pro- 
duced. 

To secure my improved system is simple and efficacious and 
consists just prior to seeding to mark the hemp ground into 
plats six feet in width, lengthwise of the field, which can be easily 
accomplished with an ordinary garden marker. 

Here it may be premised that the European practice was 
to leave 5 to 10 year intervals before sowing twice the same land 
with flax. The hemp plant may be sown for 20 years in suc- 
cession, if the hemp leaves at pulling time are scattered on the 
same grounds it had grown upon. Having previously tested your 
hemp seed for its germinating quality, which by the way, is thus 
performed. 

Select 100 average seeds of hemp and then spread them 
about one-fourth inch apart on a damp cloth in a saucer and 
place them in a warm place and cover them carefully, guarding 
the damp cloth from drying out, and cover with another piece 
of damp cloth or blotting paper will answer, and place the whole 
in a warm place. In a few days the good seed will swell and 
sprout. Count the seeds that have started, and if only 90 seeds 
have started it will be necessary to add 10 per cent; if only 80 
seeds start, you will be required to add 20 per cent. If less 
than 75 seeds germinate it will be better to throw that lot of 
seed away or feed the canary bird with it. 

Cover the seed with a light harrow and roll lightly if the 

20 



condition of the soil or weather requires it. The seeding may 
be done with a hand seeder, confining the seed to the alternate 
lands. Cahoons' hand seeder or the wheelbarrow broadcast sow- 
er are both good tools for this purpose. You will soon be able 
to distinguish male hemp plants from the female — the male 
plant growing three times taller than the female. 

When the male plants have blossomed and shed most of 
their fertilizing polen dust and their lower leaves begin to droop 
and turn yellow, they are ready to cut with a strong, sharp 
knife. 

You will note here that you have marked off your hemp 
field into six feet wide lands, consequently you will have hemp 
growing only on the alternating plats and the others bare fallow. 
When the male plants are ready to harvest (remember sowing 
the seed in the first instance commence your sowing on the sec- 
ond) following the even numbered plats, 4, 6, 8 and so on, and 
leaving odd numbered fallow 1, 3, 5, etc., without seed. WHY? 
Because, when the male plants are in proper condition to yield 
their fiber in the best possible condition without injury to the 
female plants, it can be secured in the manner following: When 
the male plants have shed most of their polen and the lower 
leaves are beginning to turn yellow and droop, drive you wagon 
along bare land (No. 1) and with a suitable sharp spud-like V- 
shaped tool cutting upwards with the bevel of edge on the upper 
side, place the sharp side of the V-shaped edge of the spud at the 
far side of the male hemp stalk, close to the ground, jerk it to- 
wards you with a quick action, when the hemp stalk will be 
cut ofT; with a quick action grasp the hemp stalk in one hand 
near the top, with the thumb up, and with the other hand strip 
all the leaves from top downwards and let them drop on the 
ground under the wagon as you progress. On this first trip 
on No. 1 you will cut all the male hemp stalks that grow three feet 
from edge of land No. 2. You will now have lot 1 wdth a lot of 
stripped foliage lying scattered on wagon track and land No. 
2 with one-half the male hemp cut, and all the female hemp un- 
disturbed, turning down bare lot No. 3 you will have No. 2 on 
one side with still half the male hemp stalks uncut, and on the 
other side of wagon lot No. 4 as yet untouched. On this trip 
(No. 3) you will cut male hemp on both sides of wagon and 
strip leaves as before, dropping them under wagon. When wag- 
on is loaded with stripped stalks of male hemp they should be 
hauled convenient to retting tank until all male stalks are har- 
vested and ready for retting. From this stage the female will 
continue their growth for about three weeks to mature their 
seed, when the seed reaches the dough stage, at which time the 
female plants will require to be cut and tied into stocks f""' ~_* 
up to dry the seed. "'"^ '^ 

^..^- . o^v;,iem of hemp eultUfe you will observe male 

plants, if carefully handled, will yield their highest grade of fiber 
and first shipments will have been made and returns in transit 
and the crop of female hemp fiber and seed ready for manipula- 



tion, and the foregoing will be found the only rational system 
to secure the highest returns for the full hemp crop. 

The second year you would use the even numbered plats 
that were seeded this season as you would sow next season, and 
the odd numbered lots would be fallow. Should your land have 
been run down and not in the best condition you may with great 
advantage as soon as the female hemp is removed, plow as deeply 
as possible (8 or 10 inches) both odd and even numbered lots 
and sow crimson clover, harrow it lightly and allow the crimson 
clover to grow until the end of March, turning everything under, 
and proceed as the previous season. In mild climates the South- 
ern Cow-Pea may be substituted for the crimson clover. The roots 
of both of those plants have the power of collecting nitrogen from 
the atmosphere and yielding up to the following growing plants, 
abundant supplies of that most valuable and costly of all our 
fertilizers. This system may be adopted with all our ordinary 
farm crops and quickly introduce the farmer adopting it to my 
Belgian friends, ideal of a flax farmer. "The flax farmer in my 
country is always the best farmer; the flax farmer in my country 
has always the best clothes, AND THE FLAX FARMER HAS 
ALWAYS SOME MONEY IN HIS POCKET! 

Hemp is generally dew-retted in Europe and in the United 
States, but I do not recommend it, as much better result's and 
higher prices are paid for water-retted hemp (threshed) until 
dry and fit for storage under cover properly ventilated, of course 
the seed will only be found on the female blossoms. 

The female hemp plants should not be cut until the dough 
stage and is sufficiently solidified to withstand crushing in the 
rippling machines, and used for sowing in quantities of about 90 
to 100 pounds per acre. Remember, a bushel of hemp used is 
only 44 pounds, sowing one inch deep. 

UNCULTIVATED BAST FIBERS. 

While flax and hemp are the chief commercial bast fibers, 
there are a vast number of valuable bast fibers that are now 
allowed to waste their usefulness in neglect, unhonored and un- 
sung, this war, however, has attracted attention to the subject 
of providing substitutes and the Germans, with their well-de- 
veloped preparedness, were not slow in turning their attention to 
those neglected sources of commercial remuneration and profit 
and have already established works to convert the common sting- 
ing nettle into a strong and high quality cloth for her army. 

Among those basts, some grow in India, China, and others in 
hot climates, while some are indigenous to our favored region 
of Puget Sound and State of Washington and others are better 
adapted to the warmer states. However, I will select some of 
the most economically propigated. 

First, then we have a most voluminous series of valuable 
bast fibers of which over 100 varieties are known to Botanists, 
scattered all over the world in tropical and sub-tropical, tem- 
perate and frigid regions, some fully adapted to conditions as they 

22 



exist on Puget Sound. Of American species, the Swamp Rose 
Mallow is perhaps the best known to the botanists under the 
name of "Hibiscus Moscheutos" inhabiting brackish marshes 
along the coast, extending up rivers far beyond the influence of 
salt water. The plant grows from four to eight feet in height 
and flowers late in summer. Experiments with this plant date 
back many years. Thirty years ago it was a subject to renewed 
experimentation in New Jersey, and placing its cultivation for 
fiber within the probabilities. In the second report of the bureau 
of Statistics, labor and industries in New Jersey, 1880, state- 
ments were made as follows: 

"Recent experiments with Rose Mallow at Camden and New- 
ark incline us strongly to believe that Jute (Jute here is a mis- 
nomer) as this section refers to "Hibiscus, the Indian Jute is 
a Corchorus Clitterious." One very great advantage the Rose Mal- 
low has over "Abutilon Avicennae with respect to economy of 
culture, consists in its being perennial. Like Ramie, the plants 
once established, the annual cutting from the stand would be a 
perpetual source of profit to the cultivator in case the quality 
and cost met our present expectations. 

Forty years ago Rose Mallow roots were taken from the 
place of their natural growth and planted on the uplands on the 
Delaware river, with a view to utilization of fiber and for many 
years they held their own tenaciously as when growing in their 
own native swamps and they may be growing on those uplands 
today from all that is known to the contrary. Samples of fiber 
from the New Jersey experiments of thirty yars ago were not 
only considered as good as Indian Jute but as secondary grades 
of imported hemps. 

THE ROSELLE HExMP PLANT. 

This is the "Jamaica Indian Sorrell" (Hibiscus Sabdariffa) 
plant, which furnishes the "Rozelle" (or Oiselle hemp of the 
Madras territory.) In India it is small bush cultivated in many 
portions of that country, its stems yielding a strong silky fiber 
by retting the twigs when it flowers. The species grows in south- 
ern Florida where it is planted in March and comes to maturity 
in December. 

A superb sample of this fiber was shown in the exhibit in 
Chicago in 1893, which was accompanied by the stalks some ten 
feet high as straight and clean as Jute stalks; the fiber is only 
produced experimentally in that country but it might be used 
commercially if the samples shown were average ones. 

A FLORIDA SPECIES. 

Another malvaceous plant grows wild all over India and is 
common in Florida, is "Urena lobata." Dr. Ernest, director of 
the National Museum, Caracas, Venezuela, describes the fiber 
as very fine, white in color and a metre in length (36 inches). It is 
very strong and takes dyes readily. Fiber of Urena lobata was re- 
ceived from Brazil, exhibition of 1876, where it is extracted 
readily and makes very strong fiber. 

23 



In the East Indies it has been used for the manufacture of 
paper. Spon says that a slip of sized paper weighing 39 grains 
made from this paper sustained 75 grs. against bank of England, 
note pulp 47 pounds. Mr. C. R. Dodge says: "I have found 
Urena lobata" growing in many parts of Florida, on east and 
west coasts, but I have never seen its slender stalks over three 
feet in height. It was several times pointed out to me as "Ram- 
mie" by people who had never seen the true Rammie growing. 
A common name which attaches to the plant in Florida is "Ceasar 
Weed." 

SIDA FIBER. 

Sida is another genius of malvacia plants found in both 
hemispheres, their bast being rich in fiber. A beautiful sample, 
Sida Retusa, known as Queensland Hemp, was received from 
Queensland in 1876, accompanied by another genus from Vic- 
toria, labeled "Sida Rhombifolia." The first was prepared by 
Dr. Guilfoyle, who states the plant has established itself in Mel- 
bourne, and is of very quick growth, seeding freely. He regards 
the fiber as suitable for fine paper and the manufacture of 
cordage. 

The samples, Rombifolia is very white and lustrous, the 
filaments fine and even and the report accompanying it stated: 
"The bark yields an abundance of very delicate flax-like fiber 
which might advantageously be used for many purposes. The 
fiber is similar to Jute, but intrinsically so superior that it is 
worth from five dollars to six dollars per ton more and the sample 
is consequently placed beside that fiber in order to attract the 
attention it deserves. 

COTTON STALK FIBER ("Gosspyium Haerbaceum" 

The cotton stalk is also one of the malvacia and it may not 
ne known that it possesses a fiber of fine quality. In the latter 
of transmittal a strong case is made out in its favor, but it has 
two handicaps, the first, dependant on its adaptation to the hot 
climate renders it unsuited to our favored Puget Sound region, 
and the use of its chief product — cotton — renders its culture inimi- 
cal to the production of the finer grades of fiber. Why? Be- 
cause the advanced stage of maturity created in using its chief 
product (cotton and oil) reduces the quality for spinni'ig pur- 
poses, so let it pass. 

FOREIGN VARIETIES OF HIBISCUS. 

So far we have been dealing with the Mallows, a large number 
of which come under the names of Hibiscus or hemp-like plants 
while possessing many commercially valuable properties, but 
their climatic habit renders them unfitted to our requirements. 
There are, however, of other bast fibers, quite a number available 
species, will pass on to another class known as the Abutilon 
species, many of which are indiginous in the State of Washing- 
Ion and well adapted to our requirements. 

24 



A very common variety has been cultivated experimentally 
in the United States, is the Indian Mallow ("Abutilon Avicenna"). 
It is an annual, growing to the height of 4, 6 and 8 feet stalks 
and more feet are recorded. It is widely distributed, north and 
south, east of the Rocky Mountains, and is found in the State 
of Washington. 

The Indian Mallow grows so freely on any rich soil, even 
thrusting itself in and growing spontaneously that it has al- 
most become a farm pest in many parts of the country. It grows 
luxuriantly throughout the west and north, producing even now 
vast quantities of fiber which rots on the stalk every year. The 
fiber is strong, glassy and white and the ligneuous body of the 
plant yields more celulose for paper stock than any other species. 
It has been claimed that fiber that has been extracted from plants 
that have not reached their maturitj^ will be fine enough to work 
into yarn for carpet filling, and even fabrics can be so manufac- 
tured. It takes dyes readily, and an advantage in this respect is 
claimed over our Indian jute, which is antagonistic, to cheap 
bleaching and dyeing. The seed of the plant is so hardy that it 
is not afTected by any climate. 

Professor Waterhouse, at one time strongly advocated the 
cultivation of this species for its fiber, to which he gave the name 
"Bute,' and at forty-five years of age he wrote as follows: "Abu- 
tilon Avincenna seems susceptible of development into a source 
of public wealth. The plant grows throughout the west in rank 
and wild luxuriance. It has the spirit and capacity of conquest. 
With invasive march it has taken possession of large tracts of 
land. Its tenacity of life and rapid spread renders its cultivation 
a far easier task than its extermination. There are today in the 
suburbs of St. Louis, stalks of Abutilon eight feet high. Unlike 
the Indian Jute, Abutilon needs no naturalization. To the man- 
ner born, it exhibits stubborn determination to occupy its heri- 
tage. 

EXPERIMENTS WITH "ABUTILON AVICENNAE." 

Experiments with the plant in cultivation date back fifty 
years at least, when it attracted considerable attention in the west, 
particularly in Illinois, through the endeavors of Mr. H. M. H. 
McConnell to establish the industry. The value of the fiber was 
demonstrated at that time by its manufacture into twine, rope 
etc., and in the report of a State F'air committee, in 1871, the 
fiber was given a flattering promise of utility. 

According to this report the plants were stated to grow 9 to 
14 feet high, the seed should be sown 12 to 16 quarts per acre. 
A volunteer crop will spring up the last of July which may be dew 
retted. The cost of cutting is given at 75 cents per acre. Water 
retting ten dollars, dew retting five dollars, hand cleaning, twelve 
dollars and half as much by machinery. Total cost, not including 
rent of land, $19 to $31. ' Messrs. McConnell offered $100 per 
ton for all water retted that could be furnished and $75 for dew 
retted. The crop is not exhaustive to the land if the refuse is 
returned to it. 

25 



Seven or eight years later the plant was subject of special 
investigation and experiment in the state of New Jersey, which 
resulted in very encouraging reports. There are also a number of 
species that are very valuable, a few of the best adapted to this 
country. I will here briefly refer to "Abutilon Periplocifolium," 
known commonly as "Maholtine," has been described as follows: 
It thrives magnificently in barren and rocky soil, the land is sim- 
ply prepared by burning, when the seeds are thrown broadcast 
over the plain about the beginning of May, and the stalks are 
ready to be converted into fiber one year after. No attention is 
required to be paid to the plant while growing and wild weeds, 
etc., do not affect them in the least. 

Plants growing very near to each other will produce very 
tall stems, say from 10 to 12 feet high and straight, but those 
that happen to grow far apart will shoot out branches and make 
bad growth, and the ribbons will be very irregular. I should 
say six inches from each other would give splendid growth. When 
the bark is green it can be peeled its entire length with no otTier 
preparation than steeping the stalks in pools of water for five to 
eight days. 

The color of the fiber is a creamy yellow and some samples 
received measured 11 feet 10 inches in length. Samples sub- 
mitted to London were favorably reported on and valued at $85 to 
$100 per ton. Among Brazilian species, "A mollis," "A Bedford- 
ianum," and "A Venosum," all of which have been introduced 
into Australia, the last species especially has been experimented 
with in Victoria and according to Dr. Guilfoil, is capable of pro- 
ducing a fine quantity of fiber suitable for fishing lines, textile, 
fabrics and paper. A Straitum also is desirable, but I must 
here turn to another very interesting species of Bast fiber. Be- 
fore leaving the "Malvaceae" I will refer to a few of that class 
known as "Sida Retusa," and a congener ("S Rhombifolia") the 
first is found to grow in both hemispheres, its bast being rich 
in fiber and is described as of very quick growth and seeding 
freely and is suitable for fine paper, and the manufacture of 
cordage. The other "Rhombifolia," Dr. Forbes pronounces as 
similar to Jute in appearance, but considered it intrinsical so 
superior that it was $45 to $46 per ton more. Experiments dem- 
onstrated the fact that a cord of one-half inch in circumference 
sustained a weight of 400 pounds. The fibers grow from four 
to five feet in length and displays a fine, soft and silky fiber. 
I think from various aspects of this question, the "Sida" offers 
great promise. 

ASCLAPIAS (MILKWEED) FIBERS 

The milkweed family, ("Asclepiadacciae") contains a large 
number of fiber-bearing plants found in various portions of the 
world, varying from shrubbery growth a few feet in bought, to 
the giant "Asclapias" of India, which reaches a height of ten 
feet or more. The several species in the United States all possess 
fibrous bark and bear seed pods filled with silky hairs resem- 
bling thistle down. Mr. C. R. Dodge, in his report on this sub- 

26 



ject says, "Of the points favorable to the culture of "Asclapias 
Incarnatas" are worth presenting here. It can be grown on over- 
flowed land where no other cultivated plants will grow and yield 
double the fiber that flax will produce of which many thousand 
acres are available and the use of such lands would avoid drawing 
on our grain lands. 

The crop is perennial and would not need renewing more 
than once in five years. The stalks stand well after maturity and 
can be harvested any time after October without injury to the 
fiber. The crop grows as far north as the 46th parallel. I in- 
cline to the opinion that cultivation will carry it up to the British 
line and perhaps beyond. It blossoms in August and the fiber 
does not fully develop till nearly quite ripe in September, for this 
reason a shortening of the season four weeks would injure its 
value. Undoubtedly "Asclapias Incarnata" promises better re- 
sults than any of the indigenous species of bast fibers in the 
United States, that we have considered. If it will thrive upon 
waste land where no other crops will grow it has to that extent 
an advantage over hemp, considering the strength of its fiber as 
fully equal to hemp. 

THE COMMON MILKWEED (OR SILKWEED) 

("Asclapia Corniiti.") 
Probably the commonest and best known milweed growing 
in the United States is the "Cornuti," found in Canada. While 
so widely distributed it does not seem to have been utilized for 
fiber beyond a limited experiment. The culture of the plant is 
said to be attended with little difficulty as it generally thrives on 
poor soil and like the former species, is a perennial one. It 
grows from either roots or seed and would be easily propigated 
and the only portion of the plant of which practical use can be 
made is the bast, which furnishes quite a fine, long, glossy fiber 
that is strong and durable. 

THE STINGING NETTLE 

C'Urtica Gracilis") 

The last of the bast fibers, I will here refer to are the sting- 
ing nettles as being specially adapted to our Puget Sound region, 
is a perennial and hardy and may be grown from roots or seed, 
has a fine, soft, strong and glossy fiber and other attractive fea- 
tures. The Germans are now producing it for the clothing of 
their army and find it very strong and serviceable. It possesses 
a fine, soft, white, silky fiber and of a finer ultimate fiber 
than flax and is especially adapted to combining with wool or 
animal fiber is of great strength and beauty. It is also admirably 
suited to converting into absorbent and aseptic dressing for surgi- 
cal and hospital use. 

ROTATION OF CROPS. 

The subject of rotation of crops, is one of such great im- 
portance and yet a subject to innumerable variety of changes in 
detail, that I think it will be less confusing to confine my remarks 
to a few fundamental principles. Flax is a dainty feeder and 

27 



its root system consists of a delicate long tap root that pene- 
trates the soil deeply, consequently, its plant food must be fur- 
nished in a most assimiliable and nutritive condition, though 
not necessary in large quantity, but easily soluble in the soil 
moisture, therefore rank, lumpy, insoluble fertilizer are not 
adapated to the season it is sown on the previous crop. Conse- 
quently, a two-year-old clover and grass meadow may be dressed 
with well composted manure in the fall and plowed deeply, and 
thin strip of the surface plowed about three inches deep with a 
jointer plow and thrown to the bottom of the furrows and bal- 
ance of the furrow slice eight or ten inches deep thrown over the 
surface slice of roots, manure and clover, and left exposed to the 
effect of frost and snow all winter. As soon as the weather 
and soil suits, toward the middle or end of March, jjlow shallow 
(not more than three or four inches). Why? This early and 
shallow working induces the weed seed to be started by the 
geniality of spring into germination and the exposure to the 
keen winds of March will kill them in the horning, then for 
three weeks run a light harrow over the surface until the middle 
or end of April and sow your flax seed and cover with brush, 
harrow, plank or light roller. The foregoing is the best plan of 
sowing. If for any cause, the foregoing is not practicable, you 
may plant a crop of potatoes after plowing the land deeply, 
keeping the crop well cultivated all summer. If the potatoes are 
an early variety you can dig them in September, seed a catch 
crop of Scarlet clover broadcast. This brings me to the subject 
of LEGUMES, known as nitrogen collectors, and have the curious 
property of forming nodules on the roots which absorbs nitro- 
gen from the air if given a place in the rotation of crops, will 
take a prominent place in increasing the fertility of the land, 
so strongly is this property marked in LEGUMES in connection 
with flax, that one crop of clover returns more nitrogen than 
could be removed by two crops of flax. The following is a list 
of nearly all the LEGUMES, Peas, Beans, Clover, Vetches and 
all have the many varieties of fertilizing property in greater or 
lesser degree. 

CULTURE. 
In a pamphlet entitled, "Instructions for Flax in Ireland," 
by Michael Andrews, and published by the Flax Supply Associa- 
tion of Belfast, the following four year rotation is recommended: 



1 


Turnips 




Potatoes 


2 


Wheat or 


Oats 


1 Flax 


3 






Grass and Clover. 


4 






Oats 


1 


Potatoes 




1 Turnips 


2 


Flax 




1 Wheat or Oats 


3 






Clover and Grass 


4 






Oats 


1 


Turnips 




Potatoes 


2 


Wheat or 


Oats 


! Flax 



28 



In this rotation flax never follows turnips, as in Ireland it 
is considered very objectionable. Again flax in the field only 
occurs every fourth year and by changing the location from one 
side of the field to the other, flax does not follow flax for nine 
years. It will also be observed that flax only occupies two-fifths 
of the field. Moreover, three out of four years the land is left 
bare in winter, and subject to leaching and washing out of the 
fertilizing ingredients from the soil by winter snow and rain. 
This is one of the objectionable features of European practice, our 
American system would substitute the following law, ".Wherever 
possible, I would recommend LEGUMINOSE, planted in August 
or September, and is known by the name of a "Cover Crop," and 
remains all winter appropriating and storing up leaching fer- 
tilizers and permanently the stored-up fertilizers by deep plow- 
ing and covering with the balance of the furrow slice in the early 
spring, where it will be in an assimiliable condition for the new 
roots that come within its reach. 

SOIL AND SOIL EXHAUSTION. 

Right here it may not be out of place to refer to a very gen- 
erally held, though erroneous notion, that flax is very exhaus- 
tive on the soil, in this connection I cannot do better than quote 
from C. R. Dodge, report No. 10, on Flax Culture, in the United 
States, published by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, in 
which Mr. Eugene Boss, a leading authority on the subject, 
states as follows, "There is a strong prejudice among some peo- 
ple against the culture of flax, they say flax is hard on the land. 
I am painfully impressed in regard to the wisdom of those who 
advocate such an untrue thing, because of their ignorance of the 
composition of the plant, its habits and needs. Yes, the flax is 
hard on the land, when the farmer plows his land shallow, sows 
it thinly, and allows the weeds too much room to fill the space, 
THEN IT IS NOT THE FLAX THAT RUINS THE LAND, BUT 
THAT VERY RAPACIOUS ENEMY, THE WEEDS. PLOW THE 
LAND SHALLOW, AND YOU DO NOT LET THE PLANT 
FOLLOW ITS NATURAL COURSE. YOU FORCE ITS ROOTS 
TO FEED ON THE SURFACE, AND THERE LIES ONE OF THE 
REASONS WHY FLAX, AS COMMONLY CULTIVATED, RE- 
MAINS SHORT AND DRIES UP INSTEAD OF RIPENING NAT- 
URALLY. THE MOISTURE IT SO MUCH REQUIRES, IS TOO 
QUICKLY ABSORBED. IT IS TRUE I HAVE SEEN FIELDS 
OF PRETTY LONG FLAX THAT HAVE BEEN SOWN ON VERY 
SHALLOW LAND, BUT THAT LAND WAS VERY RICH OR 
VERY OPEN, WITH A PROPITIOUS SEASON. I DENY THAT 
FLAX IS HARDER ON LAND THAN WHEAT, RYE, OATS, OR 
BARLEY, WHEN SIMILARLY CULTIVATED, IT WANTS A 
DEEP SOIL TEN OR TWELVE INCHES AT LEAST. Thorough- 
ly pulverized in order to allow its main root to go straight down 

29 



into the earth and find there most of the elements essential to 
healthy growth. A soil that is easily penetrated by the rain and 
permiated by the moisture of the air; such land must be rolled 
to keep it from drying and remain, as far as possible, a sort of 
reservoir for moisture. The land need not be very rich to raise 
good flax, when properly cultivated. As a recollection of past 
experience in Belgium proves, when a farmer in Belgium is too 
short of manure to raise winter wheat, he plows his land ten 
inches deep in the fall, the last part of April he plows it again 
six or seven inches deep, working it fine and about the fifth of 
May, on -a bright, sunshiny morning, he sows two or two and 
one-half bushels of Riga or Belgium flax seed, harrows his seed 
twice crosswise on the seed, and the next day, if not wet, packs 
it well with a heavy roller. If he has a tolerably good season, 
he is sure to raise a fine crop of flax, and a good crop of winter 
wheat, without manure, the immediately following season. Was 
flax so hard a crop on land, assuredly such a result could not be 
obtained. Moreover, it is a fact well ascertained by science that 
flax draws its nourishment partly from the ground and partly 
from the atmosphere. Under such circumstances it naturally 
occurs to ask, why should flax have received such a bad repu- 
tation? This question has been very clearly answered \n a 
recent report of Prof. Otto Lugger, of the Minnesota Agricultural 
Experiment Station, to Governor Wm. R. Merriam of that state, 
and published as Bulletin No. 13, December, 1890. As I under- 
stand that bulletin is now out of print, and the subject of such 
thrilling interest, and so high an example of expert skill of a 
scientific investigator, that I take the pleasure of giving it a 
place here. Mr, Lugger adopted three series of experiments to 
explain the cause of the failure of flax after flax on the same 
ground without an interval of rest. The first was on a piece 
of land seeded to flax for two years running. In 1888, a good 
crop of flax was produced and in 1889 every plant of flax had 
been killed. In 1890, twenty-four plots of this land were seeded 
to flax and various quantities of different fertilizers were ap- 
plied to replace that removed by the previous crops of flax, 
w^hile some test plots were left without fertilizer being applied. 
The seed all germinated in due time in all the plots, whether 
fertilized or not, and the ground covered with their beautiful 
foliage of green, but soon commenced to shrivel up and all dis- 
appeared before they were three inches high. This experiment 
indicated plainly that soil exhaustion by previous crops of flax 
was not the cause of failure, as all fertilizing material removed 
by the plant had been replaced in the land, in their most avail- 
able form, the uniformity of the failure in all was very sugges- 
tive. A second series of experiments were made on the same 
ground to test whether this remarkable failure was from the de- 
velopment of any germ or microbe disease. Several plots were 
therefore treated with the most effectual germicides, in varying 
proportions, while some plots were left untreated, as test plots, 
the same result was obtained, the plants all dying when about 
three inches high in all the lots. During the continuance of these 

30 



experiments, miscroscopical examinations and dissections were 
constantly made, but no germs of disease, no microbes could be 
found. The young plants upon reaching the heighth of three 
inches and sometimes sooner, would simply wilt, turn black, and 
drop. It was therefore demonstrated that neither starvation of 
the soil nor the development of microbes was the cause of fail- 
ure! 

A third series of experiments was then undertaken to show 
that the old straw of flax was the cause of the trouble. In 
fact, tlie debris of the old crop acted as a poison to the succeeding 
flax crop. It has long been known in Europe that flax is a plant 
"unkind to its own relations." By "unkind" is meant that hith- 
erto for some unknown reason, flax will not succeed flax. The 
reason, however, remained a mystery until Mr. Lugger made these 
experiments, demonstrating the real cause of this peculiarity. 
Sixteen plots of uniform size were selected upon good land, upon 
which flax had never been grown, these plots were arranged in a 
double row like a checkerboard, so that each plot treated by two 
plots not treated. The ground was well cultivated and seeded 
and between plots there was a path three feet wide. 

Plot 1. — Was covered with sixty pounds of dry, healthy 
chaff of flax. This chaff was partly worked under 
the soil. 

Plot 1. — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

, Plot 2. — Was moistened with an extract made by soaking 
sixty pounds of old healthy flax chaff in cold water. 

Plot 2. — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

Plot 3. — Was moistened with an extract made by soaking 
sixty pounds of old healthy flax chaff in boiling wa- 
ter. 

Plot 3 — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

Plot 4. — Was moistened with an extract made by soaking one 
hundred and twenty pounds of healthy green flax in 
boiling water. 

Plot 4 — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

Plot 5. — Was moistened with an extract made by soaking 
fifteen pounds of diseased fresh flax in boiling water. 
Plot 5. — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

Plot 6. — Wasmoistened with an extract made by soaking 
fifteen pounds of diseased fresh flax in cold water. 

Plot 6.^ — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

Plot 7. — Was covered with sixty pounds dry diseased chaff 
of flax. This chaff was partly worked under the soil. 

Plot 7. — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

Plot 8. — Was covered with 120 pounds of green straw of 
flax, healthy plants of flax cut into small pieces. 

Plot 8. — (A) Contained nothing but seed. 

31 



Owing to continuous dry weather the effect of these appli- 
cations did not appear so soon as expected. The plants all com- 
menced to grow until they had almost reached their full growth 
in Size, when the disease made its appearance. The plots not 
treated with anything did not get any disease, only in some cases 
near the borders, where the winds had drifted some of the old 
chafT, but in all the plots treated the disease became manifest. 
The cold solutions had the least number of diseased plants. The 
hot solutions had caused the death of nearly one-half of all the 
plants. The dry chaff had killed all the plants and the plants 
were nearly denuded. As these experiments were carried on in a 
region infested with the disease, it was prudent to make simi- 
lar ones in a region perfectly free from it. So two plots in a 
garden with rich soil was used by the experiment station, de- 
voted to this purpose, the ground was thoroughly cultivated and 
seeded to flax as soon as the young plants appeared above the 
surface, the letters "M 2" were staked out. After a strong, hot 
extract made and perfectly cooled it was applied with the spout 
of a sprinkling can along the lines of those letters. In this case 
when the disease did not appear until the plants had almost 
reached full size, but it did appear and killed every plant along 
the lines of the letters sprinkled with extract, plainly proving 
that we have not to deal with a disease, but that the straw of the 
flax is the cause of the trouble. 

I give this lengthy notice of Mr. Lugger's important dis- 
covery as being distinctly American, it is entitled to a promi- 
nent place in an Americanized system of fiber culture and treat- 
ment, and to explode the old country notion, that flax is hard 
on the land. Also in part to show European readers, who think 
they know it all, or even a little more than it all, that it takes 
progressiveness of American character to exploit facts hidden for 
centuries. 

While on the subject of work done at the Minnesota Experi- 
ment station, I cannot pass over Prof. H. Snyder, chemist of 
that station, who has carried on an exhaustive and elaborate series 
of chemical investigation on flax, in its chemical aspects. A re- 
port of which is published in Bulletin No. 47 for 1896 of that 
station, I will say here by way of parenthesis, that the Minne- 
sota Experiment Station is rapidly taking "a front rank" for the 
work done there. Mr. Snyder, as a result of his investigations 
which brings the subject down to the latest dates, says, "In 
comparing the amount of fertility removed in the flax crop with 
that in other farm crops, it must be remembered that the figures 
given, represent the ease or difficulty with which the different 
food crops are capable of getting their food elements from the 
soil. The different farm crops have different feeding capacity 
as have different farm animals. Flax belongs to the dainty or 
weak feeding crops, it does not take a great deal of fertility from 
the soil, but the small amount it does take, must be in the very 
best and most available forms. Mangles and in fact nearlj^ all 
farm crops are capable of taking their food in cruder forms and 
with far less difficulty than flax. A heav^; crop of mangles wiH 

32 



remove five times as much potash, three times as much phos- 
phoric acid, and nearly one and one-half more nitrogen than a 
crop of flax. A crop of corn removes a half more nitrogen, 
twice as much potash and about the same amount of phos- 
phoric acid. While a good crop of oats removes practically the 
same amount of nitrogen and phosphoric acid and about three- 
fourths more potash than a crop of flax. Compared with wheat, 
flax removes less phosphoric acid and potash per acre and about 
half more nitrogen. Potatoes remove about the same quantity 
of phosphoric acid, one-third less nitrogen, three times more 
potash than an average crop of flax. In flax growing the heaviest 
draft falls on the nitrogen, but when clover is grown, the loss 
of nitrogen is not a serious matter, because one fair crop of 
clover will more than return all the nitrogen removed by two 
crops of flax. From our analysis of weeds, it appears there is 
in many cases more actual fertility lost in the weeds growing 
with the flax than in the flax itself. The great difficulty with 
the flax crop is due more to getting the soil out of condition 
than the removal of fertility. It is safe to say that with a 
proper rotation of crops there is no great danger of soil ex- 
haustion from flax raising, and an average yield of fifteen bushels 
of flax seed per acre will remove less fertility than 150 bushels 
of potatoes, forty-five bushels of corn or thirty bushels of wheat. 

PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 

Here the benefit of bearing in mind the fundamental prin- 
ciples is exemplified as a guide to practice, the observant farmer 
will note the peculiarity of the root system of the flax and be 
guided accordingly. This consists of a single tap root 
penetrating deeply into the soil, and taking its chief nourish- 
ment from below. It stands to reason that the deeper and more 
permeable the soil and seed bed can be made, the larger will be 
the crop of flax. Unlike wheat or oats, that tiller with a mass 
of fibrous roots, feeding near the surface and spreading out in 
every direction for nutriment. The flax root has few lateral 
fibers attached, consequently, to secure a close continuity be- 
tween the root and soil, the soil requires to be compact below, 
friable and moist above, conditions admirably met by the sys- 
tem of Intensive Culture, and the practice of the dust mulch. 
The observance of this fundamental principle calls for deep 
plowing in the fall, rolling and surface stirring in the spring and 
modified, of course, with a dash of common sense to suit the local 
requirements. Light land requiring more stirring and rolling 
and heavy clay soils more stir and less rolling and to be got into a 
state commonly known as a light tilth, or like an onion bed. If 
clover sod is intended to precede flax, plow in the fall deeply 
eight or ten inches or more if possible, burying the sod well with 
a jointer or skim plow. If a hard pretentive subsoil exists, it 
will pay to run a subsoil plow in the furrow, breaking the hard- 
pan to eighteen or twenty inches deep, but not bringing it to 
the surface. Smooth the land with a harrow and if the land 

33 



is light you may run a roller over it at this stage of the game, 
to compress the soil about the covered sod, and cause it to 
decay more readily. The winter frosts will lighten up the sur- 
face as early in the spring as you can work the land advantage- 
ously you can either plow again, this time only three or four 
inches deep. Or instead of plowing, work the land with a disc 
cutaway. Acme or spring tooth harrow and leave the land in 
that condition for a week or two in order to encourage the germ- 
ination of weed seeds already in the ground and by again plow- 
ing or cultivating, the sprouted weed seeds will be smothered and 
a good seed bed for the flax secured, .enabling it to get a good 
start. While giving the above, as what I consider the best 
preparatory treatment of the land for a crop of flax, I do not 
wish it to be understood that good crops of flax can only he 
obtained by this procedure, as many modifications may be madf> 
with satisfactory results, and it will pay in cash returns to keep 
close to the fundamental principles. Deep culture, compaction 
of the soil and fine and clean surface tillage. 

SEED. 

The seed question is of the utmost importance in flax cul- 
ture for fine fiber, as only the best should be sown. Until the 
war, Europe was the only available source. In the near future, 
however, Puget Sound will produce an abundance of the highest 
quality of seed for fiber flax production. As a result of my ex- 
periments I have found that the Puget Sound grown flax seed 
contained 37.16 per cent of oil, and was richer in other respects, 
than any flax seed grown in any other part of America. Over 
twenty years ago I sent some samples of Puget Sound grown 
flax seed to the then President of the American Linseed 
Oil Trust, who wrote me that it was the finest sample of flax 
seed he had ever seen, and he kindly advised me not to ship it but 
to erect a small oil mill on Puget Sound. This is only in line 
with the well established fact that other oil-bearing seeds grown 
on Puget Sound, excell those grown elsewhere in vitality and 
richness, as illustrated by the circumstance that Puget Sound 
cauliflower seed, rape, and cabbage stand at the top of the mar- 
ket. Four varieties of flax seed are available for use on the North 
Pacific Coast, viz.: Riga, Belgian, White, and Blue Flowered 
Dutch, or Royal, and as far as my experiments have gone, good 
results have been obtained with all. It may be of interest in 
this place to note that in Ireland, the Dutch seed is considered 
the best on heavy crops, or after grain crops, while Riga is con- 
sidered more suitable for light land, the Dutch is also thought 
to produce the finest fiber. This matter is, however, open to 
further investigation in this country, as many variations from 
European experience will be dependent on climatic differences. 
The finest of fiber is, however, dependent on the thickness or 
thinness of sowing the seed or any taint of mouldiness or musti- 
ness. American seed that has been grown east of the Cascade 
mountains where it is sown for the oil mills is not adapted to 

34 



sowing for fiber production for the reason that being constantly 
sown thinly for the oil mills, it has acquired the habit of low- 
down branching, which spoils the production of long fiber, while 
the European seed permits this and so to speak, has been edu- 
cated to produce a long straw with a few branches only at the 
top and will consequently yield a fiber of long staple. 

Too much attention cannot be given to the production of 
pedigree seed for sowing purposes and every flax grower will 
do well to reserve a portion of his flax crop for sowing purposes, 
permitting it to ripen more fully, and preserve it carefully. It 
is also of importance to the flax grower to test the germinating 
(fality of his seed some time before sowing. This is easily done 
by counting out one hundred average grains of seed and placing 
them betw'een a few folds of cloth or flannel and put in a warm 
place, keeping the cloth constantly moist, but not wet. In a 
few days the seed will swell up and germinate if of good quality. 
If ninety grains germinate, it will require an addition of ten per 
cent to bring the lot up to standard. If only eighty per cent 
sprout, add twenty per cent. If less than seventy-five per cent 
sprout, better discard that lot of seed. None but the very best 
and cleanest seed should be used for fiber production, and if 
a farmer owns a fan mill, or can obtain the use of a neighbors, 
it will be of advantage to run his seed through it and separate 
weed seeds and defective grains. In the absence of a fan mill, 
the old fashioned plan of cleaning in the wind outside will repay 
the trouble and remove many bad weed seeds. The question of 
roasting the seed before sowing, using new or old seeds, soak- 
ing in water and afterwards freezing before sowing are all un- 
settled questions. It is therefore needless to encumber this mon- 
ograph with their discussion. The change of seed rests on less 
indefinite basis as a change of seed has been found by expe- 
rience to be of great advantage. Spraying the seed with forty 
per cent Formalin just previous to seeding is undoubtedly an 
advantage as a germicide rendering the flax immune to the flax 
wilt above spoken of. 

SOWING. 

Hitherto I have given directions for the general culture of 
flax applicable to all cases. Whether for fiber or seed or both, 
and we come to a fork in the road where we must elect what 
branch we propose to pursue. Here, also, we meet one of the 
distinctive features of my Americanized system adapted to Ore- 
gon and Western Washington and Puget Sound, the region of 
the United States par excellence, adapted to the production of 
the higher numbers and most costly fiber. (The Flax Heaven). 

In growing flax for seed only the experience of the Dakota 
Experiment Station is instructive, showing that seeding at the 
rate of three pecks per acre, produced the maximum yield of 
seed, the yield decreasing or increasing as that quantity was 
exceeded or diminished. Consequently, farmers growing hun- 
dreds of acres for seed only, use this thin seeding and by use of 
the twine binder, harvesters and steam threshers, are enabled 

35 



to grow flax seed at a profit, although the average yield per acre 
was small and the straw broken and worthless. 

In Ireland flax is chiefly grown for fiber and frequently the 
seed is ignored and the flax is pulled before maturity and is 
placed in the retting pools (with the seed on the straw) to ret. 
While in Belgium the flax is pulled in the dough state and let 
ripen on the straw after and used the next season for sowing, 
but the third season the seed is condemned to the oil mill. On 
the other hand the Russians let the seeds get firm and cut the 
heads off with a portion of the straw attached and tie them 
round a pole set up to dry. The Irish (when they do save 
the seed) as soon as the straw is pulled and dried, ripple the 
seeds off and spread them thinly to dry, often turning them to 
prevent mustiness. 

The question arose here. How shall I Americanize all those 
varied processes to adapt them to our local conditions on Puget 
Sound? F'ortunately, actual experience in the field has furnished 
me with the data for the purpose. In the Minnesota Agricultural 
Experiment Station Bulletin No. 40, a report is given of a series 
of investigations undertaken to demonstrate the yield of seed 
obtained from imported Riga and a native variety called "Fargo" 
flax seed. It was found F^argo seed yielded the largest crop of 
seed, being ten bushels per acre. This presumably with thin seed- 
ing as customary in that locality. During the same season, I 
was experimenting in flax culture for seed and fiber on Puget 
Sound when I planted 1^4 acres with Imported Riga seed at the 
rate of two bushels per acre (120 pounds) which yielded seven- 
teen bushels of seed per acre, while another one and one-fourth 
acre alongside of it was sown with one bushel of seed per acre, 
yielded 16.3 bushels of seed per acre. Thus entirely upsetting the 
experience of Dakota and far surpassing the yield of Minnesota 
and illustrating the remarkable adaptability of Puget Sound to 
the culture of flax. This being strongly emphasized by the fact 
that owing to my not receiving the seed from Europe until six 
weeks later than the proper season for sowing in this climate, I 
had only what I regarded from former experience one-half a crop 
for the quality of land planted, and even then surpassing the 
best yield of Minnesota. 

In view of this experience and the fact that thin seeding 
has a tendency to develop a branching habit in the flax to the 
great deterioration of the straw and thick seeding has just the 
opposite effect, I have adopted the distinctive practice for this 
i^egion of sowing not less than two bushels per acre, two and 
one-half to three bushels being even better under any circum- 
stances, as by that means we can obtain a larger yield of seed 
and of better quality than that grown east of the Cascade range, 
and at the same time, confirm and strengthen the pedigree habit 
of producing a long straw without branching. The only distinc- 
tion I would make in growing flax for seed for fiber sowing 
would be on rich delta lands, allowing the plant to ripen fully 
and saving the straw as a waste product for the production of 
strong second-class fiber when probably one and one-half bushels 

36 



per acre might be sufficient. P'or fine fiber I would recommend 
two and one-half to three bushels per acre (160 to 180 pounds.) 

SCAFFOLDING OR LANDERN. 

Here we come to another interesting fundamental principle 
in European practice (originally adopted in Belgium) where the 
finest possible fiber was required, such as is adapted to the 
manufacture of "French Batiste" and the finest hand-made 
"Brussels Lace," and has been brought to such gossimer fine- 
ness that the fiber costs more than the actual value of the land 
upon which it has been grown and the Belgian Nuns were 
compelled to work it in damp cellars. The Belgian system of 
"Landern" was so cumbersome as to be totally unadapted to our 
American ideas. In the first place they sowed three and one- 
half and even four and one-half bushels to the acre, and the 
very best and plumpest quality. Sowing so thickly of course 
had the effect of making the straw so fine and tall that it was 
unable to stand up against heavy rain or hail storms 
and to prevent this calamity, the growers drove posts into the 
ground about three or four feet high, and with poles and boards 
constructed a scaffold about eighteen or twenty-four inches from 
the ground. They then cut piles of birch twigs, spreading them 
on the ground and weighting them down with rocks and poles 
in order that they would dry in as flat a sheet as possible. After 
the seed was sown and the twigs dried in a mat, they were trans- 
ferred to the top of the scaffold, as the straw grew it penetrated 
through the meshes of this mat of fibrous birch twigs which 
furnished the necessary support from being lodged by storms. 

This doubtless was too cumbrous for the American disposi- 
tion to cross lots and cut corners and get there all the same. How 
was I to give this difficulty a place in my Americanized system 
of fiber culture? After some study of the conditions to be met, 
I struck a feasible and simple course of procedure. Away back in 
the early forties (in my first kidhood) we used to plant potatoes in 
narrow beds all down the length of the field with narrow trenches 
between. The beds were generally three or four feet wide and 
the intervening trenches about twelve or eighteen inches wide. 
It was a simple matter to drive suitable forked stakes after 
the seed was sown in the beds and stretch common poultry 
netting along over the length of the bed and supported by the 
uprights. In localities subject to sudden squalls or hail storms 
a second additional strip of wire netting might be placed twelve 
inches higher up by making a still more efficacious support to 
prevent the flax being beaten down. This process is vastly more 
economical; when harvest time comes the stalks can be cut 
just above the roots with a sharp machete or other knife 
and the straw drawn up through the wire netting and rolled in 
compact bundles and stored from season to season indefinitely 
and the upright posts pulled up and stored as hop poles are 
stored from year to year for future use and the flax straw tied 
in usual bundles for retting. 

37 



SOWING THE SEED. 

Sowing the seed rightly is a most important detail of the fiber 
industry, requires the greatest care, and if done by hand, con- 
siderable experience. Flax seed being so slick and slippery is 
likely to slip from the hand unevenly and thus produce a patchy 
and uneven growth; a very bad fault for the reason given before 
that ujieven straw will ret unevenly, and requires grading, be- 
fore retting at an increase of cost and labor. In sowing by hand 
the sower should follow the practice adopted in sowing clover 
seed, taking only a small portion of seed in the hand as a pinch 
between the finger and thumb at each cast and carefully avoiding 
any back cast. In Europe the sowing of flax seed is done by 
experts who go from farm to farm to do this work. My Ameri- 
canized system entirely discards hand sowing, as the little Amer- 
ican broadcasting machine ($3.00) will do the work better and 
quicker and more uniformly than is possible by hand work. An- 
other little American machine called a wheelbarrow broadcast 
seeder has been proved to do good work in sowing flax seed for 
fiber. Having your seed cleaned and tested and measured at 
the rate of 50 to 180 pounds per acre or such other quantity 
as may suit your requirements, sow it evenly if possible in the 
first week of April or as near that date as the condition of the 
land and season will permit. 

In Ireland they fix on Good Friday as the date for flax sow- 
ing, while in parts of Sweden they wait for the 24th of July. On 
the Puget Sound, on the uplands from the middle of March to 
the middle of April will be about right, while in the Willamette 
Valley and Oregon, from the middle of April to the middle of 
May will be more suitable. However, never sow flax seed when 
the ground is wet, but wait a day or so, or it may be a week or 
more until the land gets into good condition, then sow, harrow 
and lightly roll and rest content you will have a good and profit- 
able crop according to the care and intelligence displayed in carry- 
ing out these instructions. The spraying of flax seed before 
sowing with forty per cent Formalin is always of advantage and 
renders it immune from flax wilt. 

WEEDING. 

As I have already pointed out, weeding field of flax by hand 
is contrary to the spirit of the American people, and not included 
in my Americanized system of flax culture, yet this is a mighty 
great country and contains all sorts and conditions of men 
from many nationalities, some of whom are willing to adhere 
to their old country notions and practice and will consider it no 
hardship to weed flax by hand. I have nothing to say against 
this practice. Doubtless they will derive a benefit therefrom, but 
whether they will find it pays for the time and labor expended, 
I am not prepared to say. I have never weeded a field of flax, and 
do not intend to begin now at 85. I will, however, emphasize the 
point, HAVE YOUR LAND CLEAN BEFORE YOU BEGIN flax 
culture. Clean your seed before you sow it and you will not be 

38 



much troubled with weeds. NEVER PULL WEEDS IN FLAX 
UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN THE GROUND IS DRY, 

as it will disturb the roots of contiguous plants too much and in- 
jure the crop. 

PULLING. 

Having completed the sowing of his flax, the farmer is now 
at liberty to devote his energies to other matters, as the flax 
will not require attention until ready for pulling (in about eighty 
or ninety days) in this branch of the business several different 
lines of procedure may be followed, according to the results aimed 
at. If very fine fiber is required and the seed of little conse- 
quence, having sown thickly (two and one-half or three bushels 
per acre) the farmer will require to pull his flax pretty green or 
when passing from the milk to the dough stage and put the straw 
into the water, with the seed attached right from the field 
the day it is pulled. A practice only adapted to those hav- 
ing suitable water and retting pools within reach and some ex- 
perience in retting. This is a system frequently practiced in 
Ireland, and certainly produces a very fine grade of flax. If 
the object is to produce a fair quality of merchantable fiber, and 
at the same time save the seed, he should pull his flax when the 
seed is in the dough stage and just beginning to turn color and 
the lower leaves have begun to turn yellow, but while the juices 
are still circulating in the stalk, in this case the farmer, if he 
has suitable water pools and skill he can either adopt the Irish 
system of rippling (that is removing the seed bols) and put 
the straw in the water to ret, while still fresh and green, or 
he can follow the Belgian system of drying the straw and storing 
it until the following summer, or he may sell the dry straw with 
the seed attached to the scutch mill and obtain spot cash for 
his product. Or beter still, if dealing with a co-operative asso- 
ciation, turn his straw into the association for coin or stock in 
whole or in part, and save himself lots of work and worry. This 
latter will be the better plan for the average farmer, at least dur- 
ing the earlier stages of development of the industry, he will thus 
save the expense and labor of rippling, which is quite an under- 
taking where suitable appliances are not available. 

It must be remembered that in this connection, the too early 
pulling will give a tender, though fine fiber that will waste con- 
siderably on the scutching if worked by unskilled workers. On 
the other hand, while allowing it to grow too ripe, will give a 
coarse and harsh fiber that lowers its value greatly, both of these 
faults must be guarded against by exercise of care and good 
judgment. I would therefore advise the inexperienced to be 
more guided by the condition of the seed than the straw until he 
becomes acquainted with the requirements of the industry. Judg- 
ing of the maturity of the straw is somewhat embarrassing to the 
beginner, while he can always judge whether the seed is in the 
milk (not ripe enough) in the dough (just right) or fully ripe 
(too matured for best results). He will be pretty safe, however, 
if the seed is only beginning to change color from pale green to 
a light brown. I will here refer to one of the fundamental prin- 

39 



ciples before laid down. Fundamental principles being of more 
importance to the thoughtful and intelligent farmer than specific 
instructions, which may or may noth be always applicable to the 
condition present. BE SURE YOU HAVE ALL YOUR AR- 
RANGEMENTS MADE BEFOREHAND TO SECURE PULLING 
AND ALSO TIEING OF THE CROP, JUST AT THE RIGHT 
TIME. A man growing five, ten or twenty acres of flax would 
exhibit very poor judgment in providing the requirements neces- 
sary to harvest only five acres and would be sure to meet with 
disaster. As some guide on this point, I may say Mr. Eugene 
Boss in Wisconsin, had his flax pulled at a cost of five dollars 
per acre, if taking one man thirty hours to pull one acre. In Can- 
ada, also in Minnesota, about the same experience has been ob- 
tained. Flax-picking, like hop-picking, MUST BE DONE JUST 
AT THE RIGHT TIME, OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE SUBJECT 
TO DOCKING IN PRICE. I have tried as pickers, American men, 
youths, boys and Indians, and unhesitatingly prefer American 
men, unless you can procure Europeans, who have had practical 
experience in the fields. Boys are a nuisance in the flax field 
with the exception of just a few to set up the bundles of flax to 
dry. The Chinaman will make good pullers because they will 
do just as they are told like a machine. While Indians are un- 
certain and hard to teach. In addition to securing a gang of 
pullers to be on hand at the right time, it will be necessary to 
prepare ties for tying the flax in bundles. The Irish system of 
preparing before hand, large piles of rushes with loops at one 
end, which are used for tying the flax, those are delivered over 
the field by a boy in piles where convenient, and the men do the 
tying, hang as many as possible of those clumsy ties around 
their neck and draw one off to tie each bundle of flax when 
pulled. The Belgians and Germans using rye straw for this pur- 
pose, this practice is followed for two reasons: First, because it 
is wasteful to tie the bundles with flax, and, second, because the 
tie if made of flax, will ret as rapidly as the flax that it ties, 
causing the tie to break or get loose and the bundle to fall to 
pieces and require to be retted at considerable waste of labor and 
extra cost. In Americanizing, this European practice, I recom- 
mend the use of binding twine, cutting up the twine into strings 
about thirty inches long, of which a large lot can be carried hung 
around the neck and the labor of handling such bulky material 
as rushes or straw avoided. By having the strings all cut the 
same length and a suitable loop on one end of each string, 
much time will be saved and the size of the bundles will be more 
uniform. Having your ties and pullers in readiness and the 
flax in the proper state of maturity proceed to the field and 
commence pulling as follows: 

Gathering up a bunch of flax tightly a little below where the 
branches start with both hands, your arms are lifted with a 
jerk upwards, which draws the roots from the ground, still 
continuing to lift the hands until the roots of the pulled flax in 
handsfuls are clear of the top of the flax still standing with a 
kind of sweep, you bring it over until the roots strike the ground 

40 



with the roots all even together. While making this movement 
if any earth adheres to the roots, which will probably be the case 
on clay land, strike the roots smartly against the ground or your 
boot to knock off the adhering earth before laying it down. Then, 
with the rigfht hand edgeways and the thumb turned down, with 
a back-handed sweep, gather up another bunch of flax to the 
left hand and repeat the motion until the left hand is full and pull 
it as the first bunch was pulled and sweeping it over and laying 
it over across the first in such a manner that the tops of each 
will not become extangled. Continue thus until you have enough 
piled together on the ground to make a bundle large enough to 
fill your string, then continue pulling in the same manner and 
making other heaps as the pulling progresses. You can either 
tie the bundles at once or leave the heaps of flax on the ground 
for others to come along and tie. It will be better to let tiers 
tie, and pullers pull, as by so doing you make a division of labor, 
and both become more expert in their different branches of the 
work. When tying, the bundles should be gathered together and 
lifted and the butts struck ("jabbed" would be the more ex- 
pressive word) on the ground to get all the roots as even as pos- 
sible and then tie moderately tight just below where the seed 
ends branch off and set them up singly with their butt ends 
spread out for the purpose of drying. At this point the farmer 
elects what disposal is to be made of his flax, whether he will 
ret it himself or sell the dry straw to the scutch mill. In the 
former case, he can adopt the instructions here laid down, al- 
though I have thus been particular in describing the details of 
hand pulling flax the Americanized system contemplates this 
work being done by machinery, as flax-pulling machines have 
already been invented, and I trust will shortly be placed on the 
market by the use of which not only the cost of pulling, but also 
the time occupied in that process will be greatly reduced. Our 
American harvesting machines are now so much improved that 
they can be set up to cut flax straws within two inches of the 
ground and with very sharp knives may be substituted with econ- 
omy for the pulling. 




FLAX RIPPLE 
I have now come to a phase of my subject that will cause 
European experts to hold up their hands in holy horror at the 



41 



inovation, to elaborate a distinctively American system of flax 
treatment, however, requires, while giving due consideration to 
the experience of other and older countries, an independence of 
thought and action untrammled by any fear of "what will they 
say in England," at a departure from their honored customs. 

The question before me is. Why is it considered in Europe 
so absolutely necessary to pull flax instead of cutting it? The 
cost of pulling being two or three times greater than of cutting 
and occupying a much greater time at a season when prompt 
and rapid work is of the greatest importance. When I began 
to investigate this question and interview European experts on 
the subject, I was met with several objections more or less theo- 
retical and entirely unsupported by actual personal experience in 
cutting flax, as contrasted with pulling it. In fact, many criti- 
cisms were entirely imaginary, the gravemen of their arguments, 
if epitomized, would amount to, "My father, grandfather, and 
their ancestors all PULLED FLAX, THEREFORE THAT MUST 
BE THE RIGHT WAY. WHAT BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS TO 
CRITICISE OUR EXPERIENCE ANYHOW?" and to clinch the 
matter beyond any farther question. FLAX IS ALWAYS 
PULLED IN EUROPE, and that settles the question to their own 
satisfaction, but certainly not to mine. 

The principal objections to cutting flax for fiber and in favor 
of pulling it that have been given me are: First, flax is pulled in 
order to remove the roots from the ground. This is in view of the 
important discoveries of Mr. O. Lugger, that the debris of the 
flax crops remaining in the ground was injurious to succeeding 
crops of flax (details of which have already been jiven) is the 
most feasible argument that has been given, yet a little consider- 
ation will show its want of force. The fact of the roots of flax 
remaining in the ground really cuts no figure in the matter, as 
with an interval of four or five years and upwards in cultiva- 
tion under other crops before flax is again sown on the same 
land, the roots of the former flax crop will have been decom- 
posed and removed. 

Second, cutting flax wastes too much fiber owing to the 
length of butts of straw left on the ground. This is also at first 
sight plausible and was originally based on the old fashioned im- 
plements used for harvesting grain, (such as the hook, scythe and 
cradle). Our improved American harvesting machinery (Deering, 
for instance) can be made to cut so close to the ground if it has 
been properly tilled and leveled that little waste of material will 
occur, and it will be more than offset by the great saving of time 
and cost. In this connection it is well to remember that in some 
of the districts of Belgium where the best grades of flax are pro- 
duced are chopped off with a large knife before scutching. There 
would be no greater loss of material by cutting in the field than 
the Belgian producer experiences by cutting after retting. 

Third. — The reason that flax pulling was adopted instead of 
cutting was in order to avoid weeds in the flax and the party 
making this statement added, "I see no reason why flax should 

42 



not be cut in the field by machinery if the land is perfectly free 
from weeds and THE KNIVES VERY SHARP, nor will the flax 
be injured in anyway by cutting." Now as the keynote of this 
system is WEEDS ARE DEATH ON P^LAX, we should have our 
land clean and smooth and then cutting would meet the re- 
quirements without any objection. A thought here occurs, a 
point worthy of consideration. There are weeds and weeds, some 
are of a fibrous construction upon which retting has the same 
action, as on the flax itself and if any such become mixed with 
the flax it will reduce the value of the fiber, being hard to sep- 
arate one fiber from the other. Of this class of weeds are bind- 
weed, milk-weed, nettle and others. There are also weeds of a 
celular or herbacaeous character that dissolve in the retting tank 
and are separated from the flax in the form of dust in the 
scutching. Mares-tail (Equisetum) is one of that class, they are 
no injury to flax fiber. On one occasion I had a field of flax 
so overrun with this weed that I dispaired of any return, but to 
my surprise, after retting and scutching, not a trace of mares- 
tail was to be found. The point of interest is, that some weeds 
are injurious to both straw and fiber, but ALL WEEDS are in- 
jurious to the crop of flax by robbing it of its proper nutriment 
and stunting its growth. Another expert informed me "you can- 
not cut flax for the reason that the square cut ends of the fiber 
will not work well in the machines, and will show in the finished 
goods." At this place I will mention a fact I do not think I have 
referred to previously. One of the fundamental principles we 
meet with in flax culture that for one or one and one-half inch 
above the crown of the root of the flax fiber does not exist and 
consequently with American harvester or fairly level land can 
be made to cut the straw at one and one-half inch above the root 
and consequently without any waste whatever of fiber. 

This argument against cutting is entirely imaginary, it is 
an established fact that in Belgium, THEY DO CUT TPJE BUTTS 
OFF BEFORE SCUTCHING without any such results. Not only 
so, but Mr. Frank Barbour of the Hilden Flax Mills in Ireland, 
informed me that in their mills they cut the flax fiber into three 
lengths with a machine resembling a circular saw, they are called 
"butts," "middles" and "tops" and the middles are used for the 
finer grades of yarn," though cut at both ends. 

Another says, ""that cutting the straw will allow the water 
to enter the hollow at the butt and allow the butts to ret more 
rapidly than the rest of the straw, causing uneven retting. This 
argument might have some force if flax was like wheat or oats 
with nodes, forming a separate chamber in the straw which 
obstructs the passage of fluids but the hollow in the flax straw 
runs the whole length of the straw without obstruction. The ef- 
fect of this would be to allow the water to enter and flow the 
whole length of the straw and act simultaneously upon the inside 
as well as the outside of the straw, thus cutting short by one or 
two days the process of retting, a most desirable result. 

Having considered the argument opposed to cutting flax by 
machinery, I will refer briefly to some arguments in favor of this 

43 



practice. Rapidity of work, this is an important consideration. 
Flax very rapidly deteriorates by over ripening and the shortness 
of the season for pulling necessitates quick work. One good flax 
puller may pull one acre of flax in three days (thirty hours) 
while an American (Deering) self-binding harvester will cut and 
tie five to ten acres or more per diem, consequently a much more 
expanded area of flax can be harvested by machinery. It follows 
from the above that the saving in cost by this practice will be 
considerable. In Canada and Minnesota five dollars per acre was 
paid for hand-pulling flax and on the Pacific coast the wages are 
much higher. While with an American harvester the work can 
be done for one dollar per acre or less. 

While I have no doubt that in the near future a practicable 
flax puller will be on the market until that time arrives, I would 
recommend the practice of cutting flax with a suitable machine 
and if the cutters are kept sharp enough it will be found more 
economical, more rapid and more distinctively American. 




DOMESTIC SEED GRADER 



RIPPLING. 



Rippling or removing the seed hols may *be accomplished in 
the field or barn, according to circumstances, in the field when 
the farmer is desirous or retting his flax green, and fresh from, 
pulling, if the weather is favorable (which it generally is at 
this season), a good wagon sheet may be spread on the ground 
or on a wagon bed and the ripple placed in the center. There 
are several kinds of ripples, some are elaborate machines, others 
are so simple any man handy with farm tools, a saw, hammer, 
draw-knife and few twenty penny spikes and gimlet were all I 
required to make my own ripple in old pioneer days, and a sim- 
ple way to overcome this difficulty, is to ignore the rippling al- 
together and sell your flax straw to the scutch mills with the 
seed on. The farmer's ripple can be operated by one or two 



44 



men and consists simply of a plank 6 feet by 10 inches by two 
inches with two support 12 by 2 feet by 2 inches. In the center 
of the six-foot plank is morticed an upright piece of plank of 
similar width, two feet long, one end of which is capped with a 
piece of sheet iron 6 inches by 2 inches, being lapped all around 
the upper end and along the middle of the sheet iron a line nearly 
the width of the end of the upright plank large enough to allow 
sixty penny spikes to be snugly driven. These holes should be 
driven 13-32 of an inch apart. The spikes, first having their 
heads cut off, are driven perpendicularly, head end downwards 
with the points projecting. These spikes are driven two inches 
into the wood uniformly spaced and straight like a comb. The 
other end of the upright plank is cut to a tenon 6 inches to the 
shoulder of the tenon and 2 inches by 4 inches in size to fit down 
crosswise through a mortice in the ten-inch plank. A hole 
should be bored through the tenon one inch in diameter with 
its center just 2V2 inches below the shoulder through which a 
one-inch pin is driven underneath the long plank for the purpose 
of stiffening. Two lV2-inch cleats should be nailed snugly on 
the upper side of long plank to further stiffen and support it 
and still further a couple of braces as shown, as the upright is 
subject to considerable strain. (See cut of Ripple on page 41.) 

To work this ripple one or two men or boys can sit on either 
end which may either rest on blocks or have fixed legs attached 
and taking a bunch of straw not larger than they can hold tightly 
in both hands strike the seed end of the bunch down on the 
teeth of the comb two or three smart blows in succession. The 
bols will be pulled off and fall to the ground. If two persons are 
working together they should sit one on either side of the up- 
right comb and deliver their strokes alternately in regular rhythm. 
Strike only a small portion of the seed end of the bunch over 
the comb, the first stroke, each succeeding stroke being made 
farther along the straw until all the seed bols are removed. When 
one bunch is cleared of seed it is placed alongside of the operator 
and another bunch immediately taken, and when sufficient straw 
has accumulated, it should again be tied in neat bundles to load 
conveniently. They are tied with three pieces of baling twine 
or bale rope in neat bundles about six or eight inches in diameter 
one tied at each end and the one in the middle with the butts very 
even and it is then ready to put in the water, these beets should 
be tied tightly and the larger beets are the easier of 
transportation and less bale rope is required. To make these 
beets of good shape and tight enough for safe handling, a rough 
box frame or box open at the side and top and closed at the ends 
just long enough to hold two bundles apart overlapping in the 
center, can be made, and large enough to hold just the proper 
number of bundles without much pressing. When the box is 
full of bundles, they can be compressed very compactly. 

In filling the box see that the butt ends of the straw are 
evenly pressing against both ends of the box and the seed ends 
overlapping in the center. When the box is full of bundles they 
can be easily compressed with a lever or a Mexican windlass, 

45 



and tied and rolled out. If the farmer is near enough to the mill 
to haul the flax in his own wagon, this baling will not be needed, 
but if required to ship by train or boat the baling will be indis- 
pensible. In any case, the extra trouble in making neat beets 
will amply be repaid by the more ready sale and better price 
obtained. 




The Seed Ripple and Cleaner. 

RETTING. 

This is the most important manipulation in the flax indus- 
try, and if attempted by parties unskilled in the work may utterly 
ruin the value of the flax crop. In Ireland, the farmer does his 
own retting, and stores the dry retted straw, in stacks, which 
are carefully thatched with straw, or rushes in which condi- 
tion it will keep indefinitely if properly dried out before stacking. 
He generally takes it to the neighboring scutch mill, to have it 
scutched, and sells it to the brokers, who travel around the coun- 
try, or to the spinning mill, if one happens to be in his vicinity. 
The Irish farmer generally paying the scutch mill, one shilling 
per stone, (25 cents per 14 pounds) for dressing it, leaving the 
tow with the miller. This is objectionable, as the small mills 
can, and do frequently allow an undue quantity of waste, to go 
over the scutching arms, which they work up afterwards for the 
mill's benefit, and great loss of the farmer. 

In Holland and Belgium, the farmer frequently grows the 
crop and then sells the crop to the broker while growing. The 
broker sending his own men to do the pulling and attends to the 
retting himself. It is probable that this will be the best plan 
adapted to the north Pacific Coast, it will consist of the formation 



46 



of strong joint stock companies with ample capital, to make cash 
con tracts with the farmers to grow under special instructions, 
furnishing the seed at cost price and "Spot cash" (or stock 
III his option), on delivery at the mill. The company conducting 
all the technical work of pulling, thrashing, retting, and scutch- 
ing, with skilled operators, and improved, and the hest labor- 
saving appliances. It will always be the best policy of such 
companies to give the grower the best possible price justified by 
the quality of the flax, and the care bestowed on it, by the grower 
in order to encourage him to continue the culture, enabling the 
mill to work all the year to its full capacity, and also encourage 
lum to turn his earnings into capital stock and increase his per- 
sonal interest in the success of the company, in fact any other 
policy would only be an aggrawited case of "killing the goose 
that laid the golden eggs." To provide good retting the all im 
portant conditions is good suitable water. Where this condition 
does not exist it must be provided artificially or the system of 
water retting of flax be abandoned for the far inferior system of 
dew retting. To illustrate, I will quote an interesting case. A Mr. 
Luppens, a Belgian flax expert, invented a system of tank ret- 
ting of flax which was very successful when operated with the 
river Lys water which was acknowledged by experts at that time, 
(25 years ago), to be of unsurpassable quality for retting flax. Mr. 
Frank Barbour at that time was operating on some Puget Sound 
Flax I had sent him when he called my attention to Mr, Lup- 
pen's invention and kindly forwarded me some very beautiful 
samples of Mr. Luppen's products with the following remarks : 

"I send you some of Mr. Luppen's tank retted flax from Cour- 
trai. I am afraid he has sent you too fine a quality, but I have 
myself seen some of his samples that were the finest I have ever 
seen." 

Since the war in Europe, and the phenominal advances in the 
market price of all grades of flax, some capitalists in Minnesota 
sent to Mr. Luppens to induce him to visit Minnesota to erect a 
battery of retting tanks, and after heavy expenditure of capital 
and a great flourish of trumpets the result was an utter failure. 
The water had too much lime in it, which would have been dis- 
covered at first if he had only washed his hands with some soap 
in it! 

Pool Retting and Stacking Straw. 

Shallow soft water ponds or lakes furnish suitable conditions. 
Cheap dams in low places or the plow and scraper may be used 
to advantage, but the water must be soft, and without lime, must 
be secured in the first instance. A pond 50x94 feet will hold the 
product of one acre of flax. It is well not to make the pools deep- 
er than four feet; the water attains a higher temperature than if 
deeper. 

The pools should be prepared in the winter, and a few small 
pools will be more easily managed than a larger body of water. 
An open position exposed to the sun, will be better than one heav- 
ily shaded with timber. Here we come to the disputed point in 

47 



practice which calls for some consideration. In Ireland, they say, 
"Do not put two successive lots of flax in the same water," while 
in Belgium they are not so particular. And for twenty miles 
along the river Lys the water is crowded with flax in the process 
of retting, all summer, and is so thoroughly impregnated with the 
results of flax fermentation that it becomes an ill flavored fluid, 
both to the eye and nose. On Puget Sound, (where my investiga- 
tions have been conducted), my experience shows that this is not 
a matter of very great importance, as I have had flax retted with 
only one lot in the same water and again on other occasions I 
have had as many as three lots retted in the same water, success- 
fully, and that too in a very small pool, without any great dif- 
ference in the result. If you have a supply of soft warm water, 
which you can draw from, at will, in some lake or stream at some 
higher level so that you can run it into your retting pool or tank, 
when required, and fill or empty them at pleasure, it will greatly 
facilitate matters to set your dry straw in your retting tank and 
weight it down before you let the water run in, and when the fer- 
mentation has reached the proper stage, drain off the water before 
moving the wet flax to their drying place and immediately fill your 
empty retting tank with a fresh lot of dry flax, and turn on the 
water again. The foregoing are at the base of the most success- 
ful system of water retting yet discovered and embody the claims 
of Merrs. Luppens and Deswartes' invention, the American patent 
on which has now run out and it has become public property and 
is free for general use. 

There are several modifications of the retting process, a few 
of which only I will here describe, the best of which is the Lup- 
pens & Deswarte of Neerpelt, Belgium. 

The special advantage of this system is that it supplies a sys- 
tem of retting Flax, Hemp and Jute in running water without the 
danger of contamination of the river and streams, which in thick- 
ly settled districts of the United States would never be tolerated. 
The upper part, which contains the flax to be retted, separated 
from the lower part by an open floor. Its walls are vertical, and 
means are provided to keep the flax straw suitably immersed. 
These consist of cross beams working in vertical slides and ad- 
justable at any required height. The lower part in which the 
renewal of the water takes place is situated between the bottom 
of the tank and the open floor. Fresh water is admitted by an 
inlet just close beneath the open floor, and outlet for the used 
water is made through the bottom. 

The flax straw is tied up in double sheaves, the root end of 
one half along side of the top end of the other, and approximately 
cylindrical in shape. These sheaves are placed on end on the 
open floor moderately close and as regular as possible. Ordinary 
straw is then spread over the top to keep off dust, or the effect 
of weather, and boards are placed on this to equalize the pressure 
of the cross beams to insure the straw being suitable submerged 
when the tank is full and working. The tank is then filled by 
opening the inlet and closing the outlet, and as the level of the 
water rises, the straw rises also, till it is stopped by the crossbeams 

48 



where it remains motionless, pressing upward all the time more or 
less. The outlet, and inlet are next regulated so as to insure the 
water being suitably renewed and maintained approximately at 
the same level. The changes which occur in the retted mas may be 
set down as follows: The water surrounding the stalks dissolves 
the various vegetable substances, some of which are naturally 
soluble, while others become so successively under the action of 
fermentation. Thin streams of heavy juice are thus formed which 
flow down the stalks and slowly cross the layer of fresh water 
below the retting mass, and this without mixing with it, owing to 
the extreme slowness of their motion. On the bottom of the tank 
these then form a layer of dirty and denser water, while at the 
same time the fresh water of the upper layer works its way up 
into the retting straw, also in the form of thin streamlets, which 
take the place of the decending ones. Owing to the vertical posi- 
tion of the stalks and the equal pressure all over the tank, these 




Flax Storage and Retting Ponds 

movements take place with equal facility throughout. As regards 
textile straw, this system is therefore characterized by the vertical 
circulation of the water under the influence of gravitation alone. 
This circulation, consisting of the natural fall of the heavy juice 
and the corresponding rise of the fresh water takes place uniform- 
ly and to the exclusion of every other motion in all parts of the 
retting mass. 

Some of the claims of merit put forth by the inventors, which 
in a majority of cases are based on experience, may be enumer- 
ated as follows: (1) The possibility of natural retting in run- 
ning water. That is to say, the best possible retting in whatever 
water is obtainable. (2) The greatest uniformity obtainable in 
retting. (3) Larger yield of fiber. (4) Results certain and in- 
variable. (5) The saving of labor. (6) Limits the water con- 



49 



sumption to what is strictly necessary for natural fermentation. 
(7) Full benefit derived from the water used in retting. (8) 
Rivers not contaminated. (9) The preparation of the fiber pre- 
serves its agricultural character. (10) Farmers can themselves 
continue to prepare the fiber of their crop. (11) May be carried 
on in establishments of every degree of size or completeness. 
(12) Suitable for the treatment of textile straw of all values, 
from the finest flax to the coarsest hemp. (13) Practicable in 
almost every country in the world where flax or hemp is grown. 

U. S. Patent for Retting of Hemp and Jute; invention of 
Messrs. Luppens and Deswarte, No. 576,807; issued February 9th, 
1897; patent gone out of force and now public property for gen- 
eral use. May be obtained from U. S. Patent Office with full speci- 
fications and drawings, price five cents. 

The use of tanks with false bottoms for artificial retting was 
first adopted in America by an American named Schenk. The 
use of tanks Schenk's system called for the use of hot water, 
known as the American system. Others were tried, both in 
America and Europe. The most successful was the above de- 
scribed Luppens & Deswarte tank, which was a cold water sys- 
tem. Tank retting in Mr. Brown's Microbe process, and also there 
was a system called Mr. Boyce's Oliagenous Soap System. None 
of the tank systems (except the Luppens) stood the practical 
tests of the spinning machines, and even the plausible use of yeast 
solutions, to hasten fermentation, also failed to materialize. 

The present fundamental principal concerning water retting 
is that no river, pond, reservoir or tank will yield satisfactory re- 
sults, IF THE WATER USED IS UNFITTED FOR THE PUR- 
POSE, except Dew Retting, and that only utilizes the pure dew of 
Heaven and the summery showers. Of course dew retting does 
not secure as good or high priced quality of flax as suitable water 
retting will produce, and as more than three-fourths of all the flax 
retted in the United States is dew retted, I cannot exclude it from 
my distinctively American system of fiber culture, and truly, with 
all its faults, it occupies too important a place in our system of 
fiber production to be ignored. Dew retting then is accomplished 
by spreading the flax straw in thin layers on grass fields or 
meadows where it is exposed to dew and rain for two or three or 
more weeks, according to the state of the weather, and turning it 
from time to time, as required. The turning is accomplished by 
pushing a long pole under the flax straw as it lies on the grass, 
turning it clear over. The ordinary test of the completion of the 
retting is made by taking a few straws in both hands , with hands 
held about four inches apart, backs of the hands upward, and 
backs of the thumbs inward, and rubbing the straw up and down 
between the thumbs to break the woody part of the straw, and if 
the fiber separates freely from the central core it is sufficiently 
retted and may be tied into shocks and stood up in the field with 
the buts spread to facilitate drying. 

That the American system of flax treatment will utilize some 
form of tank retting, I have no question, probably with arrange- 
ments to secure a permanent artificial summer temperature, not 

50 



however, to exceed 68 to 70 degrees F. all the year round. Why 
should not large glass structures similar to those enormous winter 
vegetable forcing houses, now so common in the United States, be 
constructed with suitable tanks and drying racks? Then flax and 
other fiber retting could be carried on winter and summer and the 
scutch mill be kept in active operation to its fullest capacity all 
the year? Some such arrangement will be necessary to satisfy 
our American progressive and .high pressure ideas. In Europe, the 
scutching mill plant is laid off for several months while all hands 
are employed in bunching, tieing and retting the flax. When that 
is accomplished all hands are started at the scutching mill, thus 
allowing a large portion of the invested capital to lie unproduc- 
tive for months, seems to the ordinary American investor to say 
the least, a very unbusinesslike proceeding and calls for American- 
izing by enlarging the retting facilities and keeping the scutch 
mill in operation without intermission. Thus by letting the tiers 
tie and the bunchers bunch, and the scutchers scutch and retters 
ret, a division of labor would be effected that would vastly increase 
the skill and dexterity of the individual operatives and largely in- 
crease the financial return. 

In water retting whichever process is adopted, the flax in 
pool retting must be visited every day for the first three or four 
days to see that the flux has not risen out of the water, and if any 
signs of its coming to the surface are observed more weight 
must be added. When the fermentation has well advanced the 
flax will sink and settle down. It must then be examined fre- 
quently. 

Just here comes a radical difference in practice, in the two 
great flax growing localities. The Irish leave the straw in the 
water until retted sufficiently and then take it out and spread it 
very thinly on the grass to dry and bleach. This is called "grass- 
ing." While the Belgian takes it from the water before the ret- 
ting is completed and stands the bunches in the field to dry, packs 
it in the crate and again submerges ti for a few days or more until 
completely retted. Sometimes it is even taken out and dried and 
submerged a third time. In view of those diametrically opposed 
systems, retters, each claimed by experience, to be the best and 
Ijoth producing good results. THE WIDE AWAKE AMERI- 
CAN with the habit of cutting corners, is fairly justified in striking 
a new trail. However, the double retting has been so fully demon- 
strated as far superior to the single ret that I strongly recommend 
it in all cases. See Mr. Barbour's report hereto appended. In this 
matter of double retting it will be instructive to consider the fun- 
damental principle upon which it is based. Retting has for its 
object the removal by fermentation, of the pectose and gummy 
matter which binds the flax fiber together. This fermentation 
first renders the pectones soluble and afterwards dissolves it away. 
Now in the single retting the fermentation, after rendering the 
pectose soluble, continues operating on the flax at the expense of 
the quality of the fiber, while the pectose is being dissolved, and 
before completion of its removal. On the other hand in the double 
retting the fermentation is only allowed to proceed far enough to 

51 



render the pectose soluble and then by removal of the flax, which 
still contains the pectose but now in a soluble form. The flax is 
now dried and returned to the water. The water now immediately 
commences to dissolve the soluble pectose before a fresh fermen- 
tation has time to be set up, consequently the fiber is uninjured 
and a more valuable product is procurred as the result. 

As the duration of the submergence depends in a great meas- 
ure on the temperature of the water and conditions of the straw, 
coarse straw retts more quickly than fine and no fixed time can 
be set. Each lot of fax must be treated as separate entity and 
varies from five to fifteen days. As before said, the straw will 
first have a tendency to rise to the surface of the water and the gas 
will bubble up. The straw then softens and sinks. When this 
occurs it must be closely watched and tested from day to day* as 
well as several times a day. When found to respond to the sev- 
eral tests, it must be removed without delay. 

The following are some of the tests generally applied : Some 
straws (a dozen or two) are pulled out from the center of a bundle 
and taking them in both ahnds with an interval of two or three 
inches between the hands, it is crumbled up by rubbing together 
between the thumbs. If the chive breaks short off and separates 
freely and the fibers are easily separated from each other it is 
retted enough and must come out of the water. Before removing 
this test should be applied to several bundles taken from the dif* 
ferent parts of the pool. Left longer in the water it becomes harsh 
and the life and softness will be taken out of the fiber and is called 
"water slain," 

Again, take three or four straws which will be covered with a 
green slimy substance. If this can be wiped off the surface by 
delicately passing between the finger and thumb, it is an unmis- 
takable sign of sufficient retting. 

Again, bend a single straw over the forefinger. If the chive 
freely separates and starts up from the fiber, it is retted sufficient- 
ly. Retting is the most critical and important process in flax ma- 
nipulation, as either under or over retting affects the flax injuri- 
ously. As soon as the proper stage of retting is reached, as shown 
by the above tests, the flax must be removed from the water and 
allowed to drain for a few hours and then set up to dry. 

GRASSING. 

After the flax is taken from the water and has drained awhile, 
the bundles are untied and spread very thinly upon the grass to 
dry and bleach for eight or ten days, according to the Irish sys- 
tem. This is another troublesome and unnecessary process that my 
American system may ignore with profit. I have tried this grass- 
ing process along side of the Scandinavian plan of drying astride 
a fence or poles set up for that purpose, with no material difference 
in result, except that this grassing requires three times as much 
surface of ground as it took to grow the crop. It is not always 
practiceable. Consequently, I cut off another useless corner, in this 
American system, and instead recommend a modification of the 

52 



Scandinavian praclico, ly having galvanized \vires stretched on 
frames set up for that purpose in the drying ground. These wires 
will last for years and the frames may be removed at any time 
the ground is required for other purposes. For this purpose the 
bundles are taken from where they have been left to drain and the 
tie opened out, and the whole bundle placed astride the fence, pole 
or galvanized wire, set up for that purpose. 

After a few days when the butt ends are dry the bundles are 
taken down and the tic or band slipped back to the butt ends, and 
the seed ends opened out and the bundle reversed on the wire until 
the whole is sufficiently dry for housing, when it may either be 
taken to the mill and sold, or stacked and covered safely from the 
weather, in which condition it will keep indefinitely. While dry- 
ing on the wires many bundles of the straw will be found to be 
stuck or matted together, so that air cannot permeate through 
them. A stroke of the bundle against the ground will loosen the 
straw and allow the air to pass freely through and dry the straw 
more rapidly. This completes the farm work on the flax crop. 

WHAT IS THERE IN THE FLAX CROP FOR THE FARMER 

ANYHOW? 

In reply, I will give a few pointers from which you can figure 
it out for yourselves. In the first place it must be remembered 
that flax is preminently a MONEY CROP, for which the mill will 
pay SPOT CASH and it is the policy of the scutch mill to give a 
good paying price to encourage him to continue in its production. 
Any other policy would be suicidal to the miller, as unless the 
farmer secures a fair profit for his flax, he will discontinue to 
produce the scutcher will be left with a costly mill plant on 
his hands, both idle and unproductive. 

Fax is not like other crops, that the small farmer is com- 
pelled to trade with the merchant and accept goods therefor in 
lieu of cash. As an old Dutch neighbor of mine said, "IN MY 
COUNTRY THE FLAX FARMER IS ALWAYS THE BEST 
FARMER, AND THE FLAX FARMER ALWAYS HAS THE BEST 
CLOTHES, AND THE FLAX FARMER ALWAYS ^HAS SOME 
MONEY IN HIS POCKETS." The careful farmer may expect 
three to four tons of dry straw, with the seed on, to the acre, if he 
has used reasonable care and attention in the various details of 
culture and treatment as here laid down. Should he be slack 
handed, he had better let the flax culture alone 

A crop of flax, such as would yield three to four tons per 
acre, would run from thirty-six to forty-eight inches long in the 
straw measured from the crown of the root to where the first 
branch starts from the stem. This is no unusual growth for Pu- 
get Sound or Western Washington, while with the extra care in 
favorable seasons very much better results may be obtained. 



A POINTER. 

Owing to the demoralization in the flax industry by the Eu- 
ropean war, the market price having advanced over 500 per cent 
from what it was before the war, the prudent farmer should se- 
cure in his contract with the scutch mill, an option to require 
either "cash" or stock in the company. If he sells his straw for 
cash, he will get a good price for it, but if he insists on getting 
stock he becomes a partner and secures his full share in the 
profits of the growing manufacturing branch of the business, as 
such mills are classed as co-operative. 

WHAT IS THE COST OF GROWING AN ACRE OF FLAX? 

I give a couple of practical examples of which any experienced 
farmer may judge for himself. 

NO. 1 NO. 2 

Fall plowing $2.00 Spring plowing $2.00 

Subsoiling 2.00 First harrowing 50 

Harrowing 50 Second harrowing 50 

Spring plowing 2.00 Rolling 50 

First harrowing 50 Sowing and covering 75 

Second harrowing 50 Pulling and tieing 6.00 

Rolling and planking 50 Hauling to mill 3.00 

Sowing and covering 75 2y2 bushels seed 7,50 

Pulling and tieing 6.00 

Hauling to mill 3.00 $20.75 

Three bushels seed 9.00 



$26.75 



Whenever possible, I recommended No. 1, though costing six 
dollars an acre more than No. 2, yet the heavier seeding and the 
better tillage will yield a flax of a finer quality and for which the 
mill will pay a higher price and will also yield a heavier crop to 
the acre. It must be here noted that this cost, with the exception 
of the seeds, is not cash outay, but ordinary farm work and in 
any case the cost of the seed is advanced and not paid until after 
it is earned. It must also be remembered that the foregoing is 
based on the establishment of a scutch mill in the farmer's vicin- 
ity. Now in regard to the farmer breaking and scutching his own 
flax. A few remarks may be of interest in this case. This is a 
distinct industry for the flax scutching mill and the flax spinning 
mill are two very different establishments. The scutch mill takes 
the flax straw from the grower and rets it, then breaks it, then 
scutches it, and makes what is called "scutched flax" or long 
"line" for the spinner. The scutch mill may or may not (at their 
own option) go a step farther and hackle this long line or mill 
scutched flax and produce what is called "dressed line" of dif- 
ferent grades for the spinner. This is a much higher-priced com- 
modity and frequently the spinner does the hackling to suit par- 
ticular requirements. The spinner requires a large, costly estab- 

54 



lishment and employs a large force of skilled operators. His 
chief effort is to produce threads, warp yarns of endless grades 
for the weaver, who weaves those yarns into various fabrics. To 
recapitulate : We have the farmer grow the flax, the scutcher rets 
and scutches it for the spinner. The spinner spins it for the 
weaver and the weaver weaves it into fabrics for the general con- 
sumer. If therefore the farmer has the necessary skill he can 
with very little outlay scutch his flax by hand and with proper 
care can produce a better grade of line, than the mill can. Of 
course, he cannot compete with the mill in quantity. It is the 
fine quality that brings the high price. However, that price is so 
high for the finer qualities of line that the farmer with a family 
will find it profitable to have a crop of flax exery year to work 
during spare hours. If the careful, industrious framer can, dur- 
ing the slack time of the year, scutch ten to twenty pounds of 
flax, as the Belgian farmers do, and that flax is w^orth fifteen 
cents per pound, and upward, and the breaking and scutching 
can be done in the house or barn during the winter, it requires 
little argument to show the profit of the business, more especi- 
ally when any handy man with only the tools to be found on any 
farm, can make the necessary implements without cash outlay. 

Before undertaking the hand working of flax, some consider- 
ations of details are in order. The farmer has to contend with 
the disadvantage of not furnishing a sufficient quantity of any 
one grade to make it an object to the spinner. It will be well to 
have a standard to work up to. The points that give value to 
scutched flax are, fineness of fiber, softness, strength, length, 
color and perfect removal of every atom of chive or woody mater- 
ial. Length of straw and fiber depend on climatic conditions, 
suitability of soil and the thickness of seeding and care in cul- 
ture, consequently, are influenced in a great measure by the 
grower. Fineness of fiber depends on quality of seed used, qual- 
ity of land and thickness of seeding and is therefore modified 
more or less, by the good judgment exercised by the grower. One 
may grow flax capable of yielding the softest, silkiest and strong- 
est fibre and yet have it entirely spoiled and life taken out of it 
by careless or improper retting. While the removal of ALL the 
chive or wood material wholly depends on the care, and thorough- 
ness of the producer's work. This is why there is such a variety 
in the quality and price of scutched flax, and why the Russians 
and Irish flax producers do not obtain the same high price for 
their flax that the Belgians and Hollanders do. Because the Bel- 
gians and Hollanders are more careful and painstaking (call it 
plodding if you will), attending to every little detail and only sat- 
isfied when he can say, "That is just right!" 

The Russian and the Irishman, on the other hand, go to work 
in a sip-shod manner, inattentive to minor details, and are satis- 
fied with "Oh that is good enough" or "That will do." These re- 
marks refer to the average producer in these different localities, 
and the facts are well known by spinners by sad experience. The 
ohe secures the top price of the market, while the other is docked 
in price, to pay for his carelessness. 

55 



The hand break for flax and hemp is a very simple tool and 
can be made by any handy man with the ordinary tools on the 
farm, out of the maple, willow or other tough wood that he can 
procure. 




Hand Flax Brake 

Although I have seen good flax produced with an ordinary 
beetle on a block of wood, in order to do good work with this 




Power Flax and Hemp Brake 
5fi 



brake the straw must be dry. Frosty weather is well adapted to 
the work as it can be done in the shelter of the barn. Sometimes 
fires are built and the straw piled around it, but I would be very 
shy to recommend fires and flax straw being brought in close 
proximity. Braking is performed by pounding and pressing small 
handful s of straw between the moveable arms of the brake until 
the woody part or chive is broken into short pieces, rendering 
them more easily removed, by the subsequent process of scutch- 
ing. In the process of scutching the fiber is separated from the 
tow and much tow is carried over the scutching blades, by in- 
competent operators. As it is difficult for one to learn from mere 




Domestic Scutching Board 

written instruction, it will be well for parties contemplating flax 
culture to consult some of their European neighbors, who came 
from flax growing regions, Irish, French, Belgian, German, Dutch, 
Russian, Scandinavian, Austrian, etc., and while each nationality 
may vary in their views, do not put two men of different national- 
ities to discuss flax together, unless you wish to have a lively cat 
and dog fight on your hands. 

In this place I cannot do better than give an epitomized ac- 
count of Mr. Frank Barbour's report, on one ton of Puget Sound 
fiber flax straw, sent to his mill in Ireland for investigation. 

MR. FRANK BARBOUR'S REPORT (EPITOMIZED) 
In 1895, Mr. Frank Barbour, general manager of the Barbour 
Bros. Co., of Lisborn, Ireland, and of world wide reputation, vis- 
ited Seattle on Puget Sound, where I had placed at the Chamber 
of Commerce samples of fine long fiber flax, grown by me in 
Whatcom County, State of Washington, which surprised and in- 
terested him so much, that he wrote to me, that if I would send 
him one ton of my Puget Sound flax straw to his establishment 
at Lisborn, Ireland, he would work it up, from the field to the 
finish, free of cost to me, an offer I gladly accepted, only request- 
ing him to furnish full report and samples of the result. 



57 



Lot 1 consisted of 910 lbs. of flax straw, marked Puget Sound 
flax, two bushels of imported Riga seed sown per acre. This 
straw arrived in good condition and showed care in culture and 
handling, but was sown too thinly. It was also allowed to become 
too ripe before pulling, and was reported as being sown too late 
in the season. Had it been sown thicker, and pulled earlier, the 
fiber would have been much finer and of a much higher price. 
We divided this lot into two parts of 445 pounds each, and num- 
bered them one and three. 



NO. 1— IRISH SYSTEM 

Once watered. 

455 pounds was put in pond 
the 17th of June, and removed 
first of July, fourteen days in 
steep. 

YIELD 

455 lbs. dry straw yielded 
60 lbs. of scutched flax. 
7 lbs. scutched tow. 
1 lb. tow combings or 

13.1% scutched flax and 1.75% 
of two combings. 



NO. 3— BELGIAN SYSTEM 

Watered twice. 

455 lbs. was put in pond for 
first steep 17th of June and re- 
moved the 27th, ten days in 
steep; after drying was again 
put in steep 1st of July, and 
taken out the 9th of July, 81/2 
days in second steep. 

YIELD 

455 lbs. dry straw yielded 
65 y2 lbs. of scutched flax. 
7^5 lbs. scutched tow. 
1 lb. combings. 
14.39% scutched flax and 
1.81% tow combings. 



MARKET VALUE. 



The market value of this flax 
was £55, sterling per ton 
($275) per ton. 
per lb. 

Combings £18 sterling (90) 
per ton and the tow £13 ster- 
ling ($65)) per ton. 



The market value of this 
flax was £69 sterling ($345) 
per ton, equal to 15.4 cents 
per lb.; tow and combings 
same as No. 1, £18 sterling 
($90) per ton, and the tow 
£13 sterling. 



HACKLING RESULTS. 



60 lbs. flax yielded 

6 lbs. dressed line worth 

141/2. 
20 lbs. dressed line worth 

17c. 
8 lbs. dressed line worth 24c. 
2 lbs breakings worth 10y2C. 
Total dressed line, 36 lbs. 

36 lbs $6.40 

Tow 1.13 



651/2 lbs. scutched flax yielded 
1 lb. dressed line, worth 

141/2. 
10 lbs. dressed line worth 

17c. 
28 lbs. dressed line worth 
24c. 
3 lbs. breakings lOi/^c. 

Total line, 42 lbs $ 8.89 

Tow 1.33 



7.53 



$10.02 



58 



REMARKS. 
Dr. A. W. Thornton, 

Whatcom County, Washington. 

Dear Sir: — I beg to enclose you report upon American 
flax straw which you sent over to us to be treated. 

We congratulate you, on the success of this experiment, 
which is far beyond our expectations, and we believe there is a 
great future before the flax growers in the west of America. 

Yours faithfully, 

Frank Barbour. 

The too thin seeding was in accordance with specific instruc- 
tions from the Department of Agriculture. The delay in pulling 
was caused by difficulty in obtaining pullers, and owing to the 
too late sowing (by six weeks) and subsequent unusual dry and 
hot summer. The crop matured more rapidly than normal. 

Comparing the single with the double retting system, the re- 
sults favor largely the double ret, in not only increasing the yield 
of fiber, but increasing the percentages of the high priced quali- 
ties of line, and general money return for the crop. 

I would here insert a paragraph from Mr. Barbour's letter of 
transmittal, "The flax is eminently adapted for thread making, 
or warp yarn spinning purposes. It is exceedingly strong and 
works well on the machines. If flax is grown and manipulated 
under proper conditions on Puget Sound, we are convinced that 
the cultivation of it would be of the greatest importance, and in a 
short time rival the great Belgian district of Courtrai." 

How has the crop yielded and how did it pay? For some of 
figures in the following tables intended to solve the question I 
have taken from pamphlets now out of print. The first table 
gives the yield of retted flax fiber from, say 100 pounds of dried 
straw and the yield per cent of fiber from same after retting. 

Flax Straw Flax Straw Scutched Yield Per Cent 

Before Retting After Retting Flax Fiber of Fiber 

No. 1—100 lbs 77.38 lbs. 19.04 lbs. 24.61 lbs. 

No. 2— 100 lbs 76.82 lbs. 18.84 lbs. 24.53 lbs. 

No. 3— 100 lbs 74.69 lbs. 16.66 lbs. 23.31 lbs. 

No. 4— 100 lbs 84.38 lbs. 17.97 lbs. 21.29 lbs. 

No. 5— 100 lbs 82.50 lbs. 16.72 lbs. 20.26 lbs. 

No. 6— 100 lbs 88.31 lbs. 15.56 lbs. 18.75 lbs. 

Average— 100 lbs 80.97 lbs. 16.49 lbs. 20.63 lbs. 

GENERAL IDEA OR ORDINARY RESULTS. 

An acre of fairly good flax is estimated to weigh on foot, or 
when fresh pulled, about five tons. In drying, it will probably 
lose about one-half, or a little more, say 55 per cent will be taken 

off the weight. Steeping will reduce it more in round numbers 

• 

59 



about one fourth or twenty-five per cent, and if the yield of fiber 
is taken at the moderate figure of eighteen per cent, the loss in 
scutching would be eighty-two per cent. The following sketch 
traces the flax from the field to the market. 

One statute arcre, of green flax yields, say 
100 cwt., or five long tons; when dry- 
ing takes 55% 

Leaving 45 Cwt. 

Seeding or rippling takes 20% 9 

Leaving 36 Cwt. 

Retting takes away 25% 9 

Leaving 27 Cwt. 

Breaking and scutching takes 82% 22 

Leaving 5% or (40 stone per acre) 

A stone being fourteen pounds, and 1 cwt. being 112 lbs., 
brings the 40 stone product to 560 pounds of fiber per statute 
acre. 

Coming to actual experience, figuring the cost of scutching 
at a flat rate of 25 cents per stone, would show that the yield is 
varied from 29 stones to 52 stones, or in American figures from 
400 to 728 pounds per acre or before the war $40 to $111 per acre. 

ROTATION OF CROPS 



NO. 1 


NO. 2 


NO. 3 


Oats 

Turnips 

Wheat 

Clover and Grass 

Potatoes 

Flax 


Potatoes 

Wheat 

Clover and Grass 

Pasture 

Pasture 

Flax 


Clover and Grass 

Grass 

Oats 

Potatoes & Turnips 

Wheat 

Flax 


No. 4 
Root Crops 
Barley 

Clover and Grass 
Wheat 
Flax (half field) 


NO. 5 
Barley 

Clover and Grass 
Grazing 
Wheat 
Flax (half field) 


NO. 6 
Potatoes 

Barley laid down 
Grass 
Pasture 
Flax (half field) 


NO. 7 


NO. 8 


NO. 9 


Potatoes or Turnips 

Wheat 

Hay or Clover 

Grazing 

Oats 

Flax 


Turnips 

Barley 

Clover or hay 

Grazing 

Oats 

Flax 


Rape 

Wheat, Hay orClover 

Clover 

Rye 

Peas and Oats 

Flax 



60 



INDEX 

Page 

American System 5 

Abutilon Avicennae 25 

Another Fundamental Principle 18 

Asclapias Milk-weed Fibers 26 

Asclapia Cornuti „ 27 

Belgium ,.....^..., ,..^, ,..,.,.... 14 

Canada „ .^. 17 

Cost of Growing an Acre of Flax 54 

Cutting or Pulling Flax 42 

Flax for Oil 1 

Flax Seed 34 

Flax and Hemp Brake 56 

Flax Culture as it Affects the Farmer ; 53 

Fiber Flax 19 

Fundamental Principles 9 

French Bounty Laws .'. :....!; 1 7 

Grassing .: 52 

Hemp , ^ 19 

How the Crop Yielded 59 

Irish and Belgium System of Retting Compared 51 

Langer, Stanka, and Lamach Report 11 

Legumes 28 

Luppens and Deswarte's System 48 

Mr. F. Barbour's Report (Epitomized) 57 

Ordinary Results 59 

Pool Retting and Stacking 47 

Previous Crop 18 

Prof. Otto Lugger's Great Discovery 30 

Prof. Snyder's Important Work 32 

Pulling Flax 39 

Puget Sound , 17 

Results of the War 7 

Retting ....15-46 

Rippling ;„ 44 

Roselle Hemp 23 

Russia 17 

Russian Silesia 13 

Rotation of Crops ^ 14-27-60 

Scaffolding, or Landern 37 

Scutching ^ , 15-57 

Scutching Board '. 57 

Scutching Mill at Marienberg 12 

Slime Retting 15 

Soil and Soil Rotation 29 

Sowing 35 

Stinging Nettle (Urtica Gracilis) 27 

Thornton's Systems of Hemp Culture 20 

Uncultivated Bast Fibers 22 

Urena Lobata 23 

Varieties of Flax 8 

Various Nationalities — Practices Compared 55 

Weeding 38 



Books by the Same Author 



AMERICANIZED SYSTEM OF FLAX CULTURE AND OTHER 
BAST FIBER CULTURE; adapted to Puget Sound and Pa- 
cific Coast States. By Dr. A. W. Thornton. Price by mail, 
50c; in cloth, $L25. This book was first published in the 
author's eighty-fifth year, and is up-to-date in every respect. 



Souvenir Edition 

OF 

IHE SUBURBANITE'S HANDBOOK— DWARF FRUIT TREE 
CULTURE— Their Training and Management, with a Dis- 
cussion on Their Adaptability to the Requirements of the 
Commercial Orchardist, Both in Connection and in Competi- 
tion with Standard Trees. By Dr. A. W. Thornton, What- 
com County, Washington. In paper Covers, 50c. (Only a 
Small Number Left on Hand). 



Hysterical Women 

THEIR TRIALS, TEARS, TRICKS and TANTRUMS. Cloth Bound 
With Gold Side Stamp; Price $1.25. Only a Very Limited 
Supply Left on Hand. 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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